


Hikago Oneshots

by ijusthavetowrite



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: Angst and Feels, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Other, Shounen-ai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 22:29:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7819774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ijusthavetowrite/pseuds/ijusthavetowrite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Series of one-shots of Hikaru no Go. Hints of HikaSai everywhere. Shounen-ai.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Love Affairs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People think that Shindou Hikaru is a playboy, a heartbreaker. That the only love in his life is Go. But, is it true?

Shindou Hikaru was a heartbreaker.

He was a bright boy, active, loud and rude. Sometimes, he was too oblivious for his own good, especially when it came to his romantic life. The only time he showed any passion and desire was when he played Go.

Many said he was in love with Go, even more than Touya Akira and that was saying something.  He was practically married to it. His obliviousness towards the romantic feelings people had for him had broken many hearts. Combined with his more or less careless and rude comments sometimes, it was no wonder he had never had a girlfriend even at the age of twenty-five. Sure, he’d had a fling or two every now and then but none of them had lasted for more than a month because his obliviousness drove his lovers away.

Or at least, that was what people thought.

What they didn’t know was Shindou Hikaru was not as oblivious as he appeared to be. After all, no one would be able to miss the signs of love or attraction from others after you’ve experienced the same feelings yourself.

As soon as he experienced love of his own, Hikaru saw the way his childhood friend, Fujisaki Akari, felt about him. He wasn’t interested in her the same way, but he didn’t have the heart to reject her, especially when she didn’t even confess her feelings to him yet.

So he just continued on acting oblivious as always and ignored every single hint his friend had thrown at him. He knew it wasn’t fair of him to let her keep her hopes up about him, but he didn’t know how to handle it without hurting her.

In return, he tried be as good a friend as he could, hoping that her feelings would fade with time or when she realized that he was not worth her time. Of course, it was naïve of him to think that would happen. Akari had invested too much of her time and heart in her feelings for him. So, when he saw Akari waiting for him in front of the Go Association, looking shy and nervous and clearly dressed up more than usual, he knew that he couldn’t avoid her any longer.

Akari asked him to dinner, saying she wanted to try out a new restaurant she’d heard so much about lately but didn’t have a friend to go with. She hoped Hikaru would be willing to go with her. Hikaru shrugged and went with her.

The dinner was nice and Hikaru even paid for it when Akari insisted she should pay since she was the one who invited him. It was the least he could do for her. They walked home together, recounting their childhood stories and laughing together. They stopped when they arrived at the park they’d spent so much time playing at when they were kids.

Nervous, blushing madly and stammering a bit, Akari confessed her love to him. She really looked adorable at the time. Hikaru smiled sadly and thanked her before rejecting her.

Tears welling up in her eyes, she asked why.

He told her that he only ever saw her as his best friend, as his sister, nothing less and nothing more. He also confessed that he already knew about her feelings for him for some time now and didn’t do anything because he didn’t want to lose her as a friend when he didn’t return her feelings.

Luckily for him, Akari wasn’t the type to push. She cried, that was understandable, and left him alone at the park. What she didn’t know was that Hikaru – with heart full of regret – tailed her from the park to her home to make sure she arrived home safely.

After that, she avoided him because it was difficult for her to face him so soon. Hikaru didn’t mind; he gave her all the space she needed. It was two weeks later before they began talking again and another four before they could talk normally instead of awkwardly. They were seventeen at the time.

**-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-**

Hikaru was eighteen when he first met her. She had a pleasant smile, a melodic sounding laugh and very long black hair.

Her name was Minamoto Maria.

She was one of his fans. Hikaru choked in shock and disbelief when he found out that he, along with other young pros, had a fan club that was filled with fan girls instead of go maniacs.

One day, she made him a Christmas gift and was bold enough to give it to him. He accepted the gift before he could even think about what he was doing.

Before Hikaru knew it, they had become friends. They often emailed each other, chatting about everything and nothing. He asked her out every time he wanted to go to a new place or watch new movies. She was so happy that she never refused him.

Her limited knowledge about Go was a bit of a letdown but at least she was an average player.

She was feminine and girlish and could be a giggling fan girl at times, but Hikaru didn’t mind. Better a giggling fan girl than a screaming one. He also liked her feminity and elegance.

Soon after, his peers began to wonder about her. Rumors said they were a couple. His friends were wondering how Hikaru could end up with a gorgeous girl like Minamoto Maria. Hikaru neither denied nor confirmed the rumor because he didn’t even know it existed. Minamoto, though, was quite happy with the rumors but she didn’t dare to confirm it either, waiting for Hikaru to say something.

Touya Akira and Fujisaki Akari were the only ones who didn’t like where Hikaru’s relationship with this girl was going.

Why?

They claimed they were the ones who knew Hikaru the best because Akari was Hikaru’s best friend who knew him since childhood and Touya was Shindou’s rival so of course he knew all about his rival, mostly. They said it was the way Hikaru looked at Minamoto that unconvinced them of what was going on.

Hikaru always looked at Minamoto like he was searching for something that wasn’t really there. He looked at her like she was somebody else. And that was foolish and also why this fling of his would end up in a mess.

Hikaru realized that his best friend and his rival were right when Minamoto confessed and kissed him for the first and the last time.

Her lips were invitingly soft. They were glossy in pink and looked delicious. Her breath was fresh and sweet. The way she closed her eyes when they kissed could make any man want to kiss her more and never have enough. And somehow, it felt wrong.

Hikaru rejected her right there and then and apologized for leading her on.

His face was bruised for a week and he earned himself a lot of hate mail and Minamoto’s friends, in order to avenge her, formed an anti-Shindou Hikaru club. He also became front-page news at Go Weekly. Apparently, Kosemura-san happened to see when the rejection took place and took a picture of Hikaru getting slapped.

Waya laughed his head off at his expense. Isumi didn’t give any comment but sent him a sympathetic smile. Akari sighed and shook her head in exasperation. And Touya looked smug.

**-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-**

Shindou Hikaru’s next love affair was shocking to those who knew the full story which, luckily, only a handful people did.

His name was Rui. He was an eighteen year old model, two years younger than Hikaru. He was quite famous with his androgynous face and modeling of clothes for both genders. Most of the public wasn’t sure whether he was a boy or a girl. His gender was being kept a secret, a selling point according to his manager and agency.

You really couldn’t tell if he was a girl or a boy even with second or third glances, let alone at first glance. His cross-dressing habit to protect his secret didn’t help any either.

But Hikaru could tell he was a boy the very first moment he saw him.

They met for the first time when he and Touya were at a photo-shoot in a studio. They were the topic for the next ‘Promising Youth’ column in a popular teenage magazine. Apparently, the Go community managed to gain audiences with how many young pros passed the exam in the last few years.

On their way out, they bumped into someone which turned out to be Rui and his manager. Being two obsessed Go players, Hikaru and Touya didn’t know who Rui was. Touya and Rui apologized to each other while Hikaru just stared at the younger model. Touya elbowed him for his rudeness, snapping Hikaru out of his staring trance. Hikaru glared at his rival briefly before grinning charmingly at the model.

“Sorry, but you really caught me off guard. It’s been a while since I’ve met such a beautiful guy like you,” Hikaru said.

Rui and his manager looked surprised. Touya gasped in disbelief with a mortified look on his face and was about to scold him when Rui said, “Interesting. How do you know? Most people always think I’m a girl.”

“Let’s just say I have experience with beautiful and girly men,” Hikaru grinned, leering at the surprised Touya. His rival glared at him at the implication while Rui giggled cutely.

After that, they went their separate ways as Hikaru and Touya had to leave and Rui had a photo shoot. They thought they would never see each other again.

A few days later, Hikaru bumped into Rui again in a bookstore when he was looking for a new book and didn’t pay attention to his surroundings. They apologized to each other before recognizing the face of the person they bumped into and laughed. After that, Rui invited him to his favorite café for a cup of tea.

They reintroduced themselves properly this time since they didn’t really get to do it the first time they met. Surprisingly, they had many things in common despite their very, very different occupations. Before long, they became friends and then became closer than friends.

His friends were shocked when they accidentally caught them kissing on a date, especially Touya since he was the one who knew for sure that Rui was a boy. They never knew that Hikaru swung that way.

When the public found out about their relationship, they became the hot news in both Go Weekly and teenage fashion world. People immediately assumed that Rui was a girl based on the fact that he was dating a boy. Silly, really. Fortunately, Rui’s manager and agency didn’t have any problem with it. In fact, his agency’s director thought that this would make things more interesting when the truth came out. The man really was eccentric.

So, there they were. Except for Hikaru’s close friends, no one knew about the truth behind Rui’s gender. Not even his family knew that it was a boy and not a girl he was dating and Hikaru didn’t bother to correct them.

In the end, it was a good thing since their relationship didn’t last long. It turned out that Rui had liked his manager for quite some time now and he was using Hikaru to make him jealous.

When he confessed this to Hikaru, the Go prodigy just asked if it worked and Rui nodded guiltily. Surprisingly, Hikaru was pretty cool about it and told Rui to tell his manager about his feelings as soon as possible because life was too short to waste for something like the fear of rejection. It was only natural to be afraid of course, but he would never know if he didn’t try first.

Rui smiled gratefully at him and after one last platonic kiss, he left to find the man he loved.

**-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-**

Touya Akira’s confession was one of the most unexpected love declarations Hikaru had ever received. In fact, it wasn’t even on the unexpected list, let alone an expected one. So, it came as quite a shock when he confessed.

Why?

Because the other man never showed any indication about how he felt for Hikaru other than their rivalry. Then again, the other prodigy never loved anyone or anything other than his parents and Go and those were different.

He was always a bit of a social-cripple and didn’t really know how to interact with people around his age normally. So, apparently, what people assumed as annoyance and irritation when they fought and his possessiveness of Hikaru in passion for Go and rivalry were his way to express his love.

What shocked Hikaru the most was the fact that Touya confessed to him at his wedding day to Akari. Hikaru was rendered speechless and his mind was left blank. For a moment, Touya wondered if he had broken him.

When Hikaru finally tried to come up with an answer, Touya cut him off and said that he knew Hikaru didn’t feel the same way. That was why he never bothered to confess before which was stupid according to Akari because she thought he should at least try.

Hikaru looked at his childhood friend in disbelief. Turned out, the reason Akari and Touya became close friends and later became a couple was their unrequited feelings for Hikaru.

Jokingly, Hikaru asked if their marriage was a union of two rejectees to stick together. He got a kick to the shin and a smack on the head for that. He yowled in pain while Akari giggled and Touya chuckled.

He was curious, though, about why Touya confessed to him now of all times if he never bothered before. Touya said it was so he didn’t have unfinished business before starting a new life with Akari. So he can have closure for his feelings for Hikaru and could live the rest of his life without regret and what ifs. Akari supported him in this.

Hikaru said he was glad to help and he thanked him for his feelings and apologized that he didn’t feel the same way. He wished them a great life together. Akari wished in return for Hikaru to find his one and only too so he could stop being a heartbreaker.

The bi-colored haired man protested indignantly that he wasn’t a heartbreaker and then thanked her for her wish even though he knew that it would never come true.

“Of course it will,” Akari claimed, “Everyone has their one and only, Hikaru.”

“I already met that person, Akari. I found them and I lost them and so far, no one can replace them.”

This time, it was the newlyweds’ turn to be speechless at the pain and loss in Hikaru’s eyes.

**-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-**

Hikaru was twenty-nine when his mother forced him into an omiai. He was furious. There was shouting match between Hikaru and his parents.

His parents, especially his mother, were worried that he lived alone in his apartment and would never get married. Considering his age, it was time for him to think about marriage and family.

In the end, Hikaru reluctantly went to meet the woman his parents chose for him. He was planning to apologize and explain to the woman his mother chose that he wasn’t interested in marriage yet. Unfortunately for him, she liked him at first sight.

Hikaru just got his hair cut recently, but his hairdresser made a mistake and cut his hair shorter than usual and it looked ridiculous with his bleached bangs. They had to fix it by cutting it even shorter and shaped it into a stylish mess. Lastly, they had to get rid of the bleach, much to Hikaru’s dismay.

His new look gave him a fierce and exotic looking appearance. And, apparently, he looked exactly like the woman’s type.

The woman his parents chose was named Sawatari Rena. She was an attractive woman with long brown hair that reached her back and hazel eyes. She was five years younger than him and a bit pushy and manipulative for Hikaru’s taste.

She didn’t show it at first, of course. But Hikaru could see the traits in her eyes.

When Hikaru explained his story to her, she said she understood but the interest and determination in her eyes didn’t go unnoticed by Hikaru. She said there was nothing wrong with being friends, though, and even if Hikaru wanted nothing more than to flatly say no, he had no reason to refuse.

Much to Hikaru’s eternal dismay, Sawatari began to come to the Go Association to meet him regularly since that was the only way she could meet him in the middle of his busy schedule. At first, Hikaru would come out of the building to find her standing there waiting for him, charming every man who passed by with her beautiful looks and smiles.

She would ask him to accompany her to places to spend some time together since everyone was busy and it would be awkward and lonely to go by herself. Yeah, right, Hikaru thought.

When his friends found out that she was the woman from the omiai his parents arranged for him, Hikaru got teased here and there. Some people congratulated him and said it was about time for him to have a girlfriend and think about settling down, or that it figures that Hikaru would only get a beautiful woman through omiai. The last one was just a joke of course. Everyone still remembered Hikaru’s previous relationships; all of his exes were beautiful.

Hikaru was vexed. He didn’t want Sawatari. She thought that she had a chance just because Hikaru’s friends approved of her. Fortunately, she decided to correct them herself before Hikaru could say anything.

From then on, though, she knew his friends from the Go world and became closer to them. Before Hikaru knew it, she didn’t just stand outside the building waiting for him. No, she became so well known within the occupants of the building that she was invited to wait inside the waiting room with a cup of tea or given a tour around the building even though she didn’t understand or have any interest in anything involving Go. In the end, she even tried to learn to play Go.

It seemed that although she understood Hikaru’s wish to remain single for now, she was also determined to change his mind. She did everything she could to earn good points in Hikaru’s eyes. Honestly, it was flattering. Hikaru could see how much she liked him, wished to be with him and it made him felt guilty that he was unable to return her feelings.

No matter how many times Hikaru told her he wasn’t interested in anything more between them whenever the topic came up, she still remained undeterred.

Until she ran out of patience and finally snapped.

She asked, almost screamed, why Hikaru was not interested in her? Many men were attracted to her, why was Hikaru different? Was there something Hikaru didn’t like about her? Was it her hair? Her clothes? Or what?

This time, she refused his evasive answer about not being ready or anything because it wasn’t like she was forcing him to marry her right then and there. They could date first. Marriage didn’t have to come up for another couple of years. Why was Hikaru so unwilling to try? What was his real reason?

“Tell me!” she demanded, nearly in tears.

Hikaru suddenly understood why a young and beautiful woman like her turned to omiai to find a spouse, because that was just desperate. She really was grating on his nerves. Finally, after being pushed and pushed until he was cornered, Hikaru also snapped.

“I’ll tell you why! Yes, I like you as a friend, but not more than that. You’re not my type. Not only do you have the wrong hair and clothes, you also have the wrong name, the wrong face and the wrong gender!”

Everyone who knew him could tell you that Shindou Hikaru wasn’t the most tactful person that had ever been born into the world. Hell, he was tactless and rude most of the time because of how blunt his personality was. He tried to be better, of course. He really did try. Sometimes he succeeded other times he was hopeless. And it was Shindou Hikaru in general. When he was pissed… oh, well.

Never before has Hikaru gotten slapped so hard he saw stars. He even fell to the ground from the force of the hit. Sawatari hit like hell, he could give her that.

It was humiliating for Hikaru because their fight broke out in the middle of a sidewalk, free for any passerby to see. Sawatari screamed at him in frustration one last time before stomping away in fury, leaving Hikaru sitting dazed on the sidewalk. People either snickered at his expense or sent him sympathetic looks or shook their head in exasperation.

Of course, that wasn’t the end of it.

Hikaru got a furious phone call from his parents the next day. They told him that Sawatari told her parents what happened and they complained furiously to them. His father was so angry and ashamed of his son’s sexuality that Hikaru was disowned by the end of his father’s rant. His mother was calmer and said she was disappointed that Hikaru didn’t tell her but she understood and told him to call her whenever he wanted to talk. She, unlike her husband, didn’t disown her only son but accepted him as who he was.

The next one was a phone call from Hikaru’s grandparents. Hikaru had no idea how they found out so fast but thought that it was probably his father who told them. Much to Hikaru’s relief, his grandparents only called to tell him that they loved him and would always support him in his choices as long as he was happy. Hikaru was grateful for them because he still stopped by his grandparents’ place pretty often to visit Sai’s goban.

Hikaru was contemplating not going to the Go Association that day. He just knew that everyone there would also know by now. It wasn’t like he was ashamed or anything. Hell, he was even open about it when he was with Rui. Well, as open as he could be anyway. He just didn’t think he could handle the roller coaster of excitement that would be sure to come from his friends. Waya especially. He was the only one who could compete with Hikaru in the term of tactlessness and rudeness. He didn’t dare to imagine the torment he would get when they saw his swollen face.

But Shindou Hikaru was no coward.

So, chucking the ice he used to sooth the pain on his face, Hikaru got out of bed to get dressed. He was standing in front of the association half an hour later. Taking a deep breath, he walked in.

Hikaru didn’t even reach the elevator before he heard someone shout his name. Just as he thought, Waya was the first to harass him about it. Isumi asked him about the recent rumors which were spreading around that morning.

Apparently, Sawatari was spiteful enough to spread rumors that he was a two-faced bastard and a coward for hiding his sexuality in the closet and using her as a cover and that he was leading her on and playing with her feelings for his own benefit. There were other rumors that were changing every time different people talked about them. And each one became more ridiculous than the one before it.

Hikaru explained to his friends what had really happened. Waya laughed at him. Well, at first he gaped and then assured Hikaru that he was still his friend as long as Hikaru didn’t hit on him and then he laughed heartily at his current predicament. How loyal of him.

Isumi was torn between being sympathetic and exasperated. He thought Hikaru was very tactless about the way he rejected Sawatari. No wonder she was so spiteful and spread all those rumors.

Touya just sighed and shook his head at him just like all of those old people did when they say, “Young people these days…”

Akari’s reaction more or less was like Isumi’s.

After it was confirmed that the rumor about Hikaru’s sexuality was true, while the other rumors were not, some of the older pros – like those that were thirty or forty something years older than him with outdated world views – were feeling scandalous about it and refused to play him.

Some of the younger pros, those who already resented Hikaru for his success, also felt the same and used this incident as more reason to hate him.

But the Go Association didn’t approve of discrimination and refused to reschedule any of their matches with Shindou-pro. They stated that if anyone had a problem with playing Shindou-pro then they had the option to forfeit. No one would force them to play.

The only ones who didn’t have a problem with Hikaru were his friends and a large enough number of young players. There were also supporters from older pros and non-pros who were interested in Hikaru professionally since he was young like former Touya Meijin, former Honinbo Kuwabara – Ogata Seiji finally succeeded in snatching his title five years ago, Honinbo Ogata, Kurata, and many others. They were the few who knew about Rui years ago after all and never said anything about it since it wasn’t their business. The customers in Heart of Stones, Hikaru’s favorite Go salon, didn’t cease their support of him either.

Go Weekly wasn’t so boring that week. They had a field day printing an article about Hikaru’s recent love disaster. Hikaru was planning to kill Kosemura-san. The man just “happened to be in the same place” when the incident with Sawatari happened. Again.

All this chaos and Hikaru had to endure it with a face that was swollen for a week and bruised for two weeks.

**-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-**

It was a year later when Hikaru first saw his picture. There was an announcement at Go Weekly about the new pros that just passed the exam.

He was fifteen and passed the exam undefeated.

Hikaru’s hands trembled as he held the papers. His eyes were wide in disbelief.

The pale porcelain face. The unique amethyst gems that were his eyes. The beautiful long black hair. He was not sure how long they were as it was only a small headshot picture. There were tiny red stones decorating the ears, you could see them if you squinted a bit. The smile was as beautiful as ever.

Hikaru’s eyes furrowed in confusion and were suspiciously bright and glassy.

There were differences, though. A pair of inviting pink lips replaced the purple ones. The tall black hat and white robes were missing, replaced by a kimono.

Around him, his friends were looking at his reaction in confusion. Hikaru looked like someone who was struck by lightning in bright daylight. Waya was about to ask him what was wrong when someone approached them.

“Can you hear me?”

Hikaru choked at the sound of the familiar soft and melodic voice. It was higher than he remembered but it was close enough, very close. He felt the people around him turn to the source of the voice but Hikaru kept locking his gaze at the face on the paper.

“Can you hear my voice?”

The thirty year old closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, they were still bright but less glassy. Gulping nervously, he slowly turned to face the source of the heavenly voice. A voice he hadn’t heard for so many years and missed more than anything in the world.

There, in front of him, was a young boy who looked a bit older than the age that was printed on the paper. His kind eyes were looking at Hikaru with so many emotions but the most obvious one was happiness. His lips were curled in a smile that Hikaru loved so much. His hair was as long and black as he remembered and still gleamed with purple in the light. He was wrapped in a beautiful lavender colored kimono with white clouds decorating the bottom part of the garment, white obi and a dark purple haori. His feet were wearing a pair of tabi and zōri and in his hands was a yellow paper fan.

Hikaru blinked. He was sure he was imagining things, seeing something that wasn’t really there. How many times in the past that he thought he saw that person only to find out he was wrong?

He blinked again but the projection still did not disappear like it usually did. He looked at the projection pleadingly, silently begging to it.

The projection smiled an understanding, sad smile. “Can you hear me, Hikaru?”

There were gasps around him, no doubt everyone was looking at the teenager with disapproval at what they saw as his lack of respect for him. Considering that Hikaru was not just a Go pro, he had held the Jyuudan title for years, exchanging the Kisei title with Touya Akira every couple of years and also succeeded in stealing the Honinbo title from Ogata Seiji last year as a revenge for the merciless teasing about the Sawatari-disaster he got from the older pro.

Waya was about to start on a rant at the beautiful teenager but Isumi stopped him when he saw the way both Hikaru and the kid only had eye for each other. Like they didn’t have care about the world around them, only about the person standing in front of them.

“Sa…Sai?” Hikaru’s voice was shaking.

“It’s been a long time, ne, Hikaru?” Sai smiled tearfully at him.

And just like that, Hikaru leaped forward, the Go Weekly had long dropped from his slackened grip. Everyone shouted in surprise and shock as he wrapped his arms tightly around the slim waist and buried his face into the crook of the teen’s neck.

Sai’s arms came up around his neck. Hikaru took a deep breath, taking in the scent he never got to smell all those years ago, soaking in the warmth and familiarizing himself with the smaller body that used to be bigger than him.

“Hikaru…,” Sai’s voice was soft and warm in his ear and so full of emotion.

“Sai…Sai…Sai….,” Hikaru chanted, hugging the teen tightly as if his life depended on it.

Whispers and comments broke from the crowd but both Hikaru and Sai didn’t care. Finally, he was not alone anymore. Finally, they met again. And this time, they would be together forever. He would make sure of that.

**~Fin~**


	2. The Haunted Building

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hikaru and Sai go to the school’s summer festival. Who knows such simple activity could bring them a very memorable adventure?

“I still don’t know why I’m here,” Hikaru said moodily with his arms crossed.

He was walking down a familiar street with his childhood best friend, Fujisaki Akari, and his ghost companion, Fujiwara no Sai.

“Come on,” Akari said. “It’s gonna be fun.”

“Yes, Hikaru! It’s a summer festival~ It’s going to be fun~,” Sai said excitedly, unheard by everyone but the bleached bang boy.

“Fine, fine,” Hikaru grumbled. “Remember, though, that I only came because you said it’s your treat,” he pointed to Akari.

The girl pouted. “I know. Geez… you’re so cheap, Hikaru.”

Sai nodded in agreement. “That’s true. I’m so ashamed that you’re making a girl to pay for you, Hikaru,” The thousand-year-old ghost sighed, shaking his head behind his long, wide sleeve.

_“Shut up, Sai. It’s your fault I have to spend all my money on those kifu books you kept whining on and on about and now I’m broke. Maybe next time I’ll just let you whine without buying any.”_

“Waaaaaa…! Hikaruuuuu…!! I’m sorry! You’re the best! Please don’t say you won’t buy any more books. There’s a book I want that will come out next month!” Sai immediately latched onto his host, wailing for forgiveness.

If he wasn’t so used to Sai’s antics and his habit of suddenly hugging and latching on to him, Hikaru would have lost his balance and crashed into the girl in front of him. That said, Hikaru only planted his legs more firmly to the ground and tensed his muscles whenever this happened.

At first, he was annoyed and hated Sai’s habit. But nowadays, his lips would unwittingly curl up into a fond smile and more often than not he would tease Sai just to get that reaction out of the childish ghost.

“So, tell me again about this festival,” Hikaru said to Akari, ignoring the ghost who was still hanging on his shoulders. “Why is it held at night? I mean, this is our school’s festival, right? How come the principal allows the seniors to use the school at night?”

“I don’t know. With a lot of begging, I guess. It seems the third year students made the proposal and it was approved under several conditions. There would be many teachers to supervise everything and patrol around,” Akari explained.

“And why do we have to come again?”

“Because it’s Tsutsui-senpai’s and Kaga-senpai’s last festival at Haze. They going to graduate soon, remember? The Go club should come and give our support to Tsutsui-senpai,” Akari said passionately.

“What is their class doing in the festival, then?” Hikaru asked again.

“Oh, that…” Akari’s expression changed worried. “They’re using the old school building to open a horror house.”

“The old school building? There’s such a thing?” Hikaru tilted his head in confusion.

“You mean you don’t know?!” Akari asked in disbelief.

“What?”

“The old school building behind our school! Everyone knows about it. It is rumored to be haunted!”

“There’s a haunted school behind our school?” Hikaru asked half-confused, half-incredulous.

“A haunted school? Hikaru, your school is haunted? How come we don’t know this?” Sai asked as the conversation caught his attention.

“No! It’s the old school building behind the current building we’re using. The building hasn’t been used for nearly twenty years but the building’s never been destroyed because whenever they tried it in the past, there was always some freak accidents happening to the workers. In the end, they let it be. There are many scary stories about that building.”

“Like what?”

“Well… There’s a story that says if you walk down one of the east corridors, sometimes you will hear a creaking sound from the ceiling that’ll come closer and closer to you. Most parts of the building are made from wood, you see.”

“Are you sure it’s not because the wood is old that it’s creaking?”

“Well, they said that only happens if you’re in that corridor during the day. When it is night time, you would see the creaking sound coming from an evil-looking long-haired woman crawling across the ceiling very quickly to whoever is unlucky enough to see her!”

“Gyaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

Spontaneously, they all screamed, Akari in fright from her own story, Sai in fright from the scary story and Hikaru in knee-jerk respond to their screams.

“Why the hell are you screaming?! You planning to kill me or something? God, I thought I was going to die from a heart-attack!” Hikaru shouted at them, holding his chest tightly where his heart was racing madly.

“I’m sorry!” Akari said, “It’s just…that’s one of the scariest rumors about the building. Nobody knows what happens after that. They said, no one ever returned after they saw her.”

“I’m sorry, Hikaruuuuu…!” Sai sniffled, “The story is so scary. You’re not planning to go there, are you?”

_“You’re scared because of the story? Sai, you’re a ghost! Why would you be scared of a ghost?! Besides, it’s just a story! A rumor at that!”_

“I’m sorry! I can’t help it if it scares me,” Sai said again with tears welling up his eyes.

_“God…sometimes, you can be so pathetic, Sai…”_

“Hikaru! You’re so mean…!!” Sai whined loudly.

“Girls!” Hikaru scoffed. “You wanna tell the story but can’t handle it yourself and end up nearly killing everyone with your screams.”

“Hey! You’re the one who asked!” Akari protested.

“You could’ve refused to tell me if you’re such a wimp!” Hikaru shot back.

“Ugh, Hikaru! You’re so mean!!” Akari stomped off ahead of him.

The school gate was just a few meters in front of them. It was strange to see the school field so bright at night. The third year students were really serious about the festival. They built their stands at the field instead of the classrooms. There were string lights decorating the pathway between the stands. Seniors were bursting with energy, promoting their stands excitedly. Was that the PE coach at the shaved ice stand? Even some of the teachers were participating! The Haze Junior High’s school field suddenly felt like a real fair.

“Fujisaki-san! Shindou-kun! Over here~!”

The childhood friends looked up to see the other Go club members waving at them. Mitani scowled as soon as he saw Hikaru and made an attempt to leave but wasn’t quick enough as Kaneko grabbed the back of his yukata.

“Hey, how long have you guys been here?” Akari asked.

“Not long at all. Tsutsui-senpai has already been at the horror house since he’s going to be one of the guides,” Kumiko answered, “He said we can have fun first before going to the old building.”

“That’s great! I heard some of the teachers are going to open a stand of their own, too. It would be interesting if we visit their stands!” Akari said excitedly.

“Yes, I agree!” Kumiko replied cheerily.

“Let me go! Hey!” Mitani’s loud protest was heard by them.

“Why? You were quite excited five minutes ago,” Kaneko said.

“I’m not! Besides you didn’t say that Shindou would come, too!”

Hikaru flinched a bit at that. “Maybe I should…”

“No!” Akari cut him off. “Mitani-kun! This is ridiculous! We came here to have fun together and show our support to Tsutsui-senpai since this is his last festival at Haze. Can’t you forget your own problems for one night?”

“Hear that?” Kaneko raised an eyebrow at the cat-like boy.

Mitani humphed and turned away but didn’t make any more attempts to leave. An awkward silence fell over them. Hikaru looked guilty while Sai tried to cheer him up.

“Ne, Hikaru… don’t mind Mitani-kun, ne? We’re going to have fun tonight!” Sai said consolingly.

Suddenly, Akari clapped her hands, snapping everyone out of the awkwardness. “Now, why don’t we go to the shaved ice stand?” Akari suggested in a cheery voice.

“I agree. I’ve wanted to tease Fujimoto-sensei about his bandana since I saw him earlier,” Kaneko nodded. Everyone laughed at that since they all agreed that the teacher did look ridiculous in his bandana.

Hikaru saw Akari looking at him. He smiled in gratitude at his friend. Akari winked at him.

So, the night went on. They bought shaved ice from the teachers and teased them only to earn a threat of a mountain of homework in return. They played goldfish scooping, which somehow turned into a competition between Hikaru and Mitani because of the animosity from the latter. None of them won, though. They were too impatient and too rushed to win any of the fish. Eating takoyaki, buying cute handmade souvenirs (girls) and wicked looking masks (boys).

Hikaru felt like laughing when he bought his scary mask, tapping a preoccupied Sai on the shoulder and making the ghost yelp in surprise when he turned. “Hikaru, you meanie…!” Sai shouted, trying to smack Hikaru with his fan, which the boy dodged.

Of course, they didn’t forget pictures. Well, the girls didn’t. They took many pictures, the good ones and the silly ones. Akari had just finished taking a picture of Hikaru trying to fish a beautiful ball out of the water with tiny hook attached to a thin string with Sai cheering him on beside him, not that she could see the ancient ghost, when Kaga came out of nowhere surprising them.

“So here you brats are!” Kaga said loudly. “What the hell are you doing here?!”

“Playing ball scooping,” Hikaru replied annoyed, his hook snapped when he jerked in surprise, losing the targeted ball in the process.

“Oh, leave that pointless game alone! The real attraction is at the old building!” he sneered at the game, snapping his fan open and closed in agitation. “Why would I, The Great Kaga, have to come to get you anyway? Come on!” he ordered, gesturing with his fan.

“What a jerk!” Mitani grumbled under his breath. “Who does he think he is?”

“Apparently, he’s ‘The Great Kaga’,” Hikaru answered with heavy sarcasm.

“Hikaru…” Sai looked warily behind him.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, both Hikaru and Mitani got a smack at the back of their heads with Kaga looming over them with a scary expression.

“What the hell are you bitches waiting for?” he growled.

So, just like that, Kaga scared all of them into following him to the old building, dragging a screaming and kicking Hikaru and Mitani behind him.

In front of the old school building was a bunch of seniors and several nervous but excited visitors with several traumatized ones on one side. The decoration was nice but gave a creepy feeling with the dimmed lighting, especially with the building already looking creepy itself.

“Kaga! Where the hell were you going? You’re not planning to run away, are you?” Tsutsui ran to them the moment he saw Kaga.

“Who? Me? Run away? In your dreams,” Kaga replied. “I went to fetch the brats,” he said, pointing to the Go club members behind him.

“Shindou-kun! Fujisaki-san! And everyone is here too!” Tsutsui greeted them enthusiastically.

“Tsutsui-senpai,” everyone greeted.

“You guys came for the attraction, right? Come on, then! I’ll be your guide.”

“Guide?”

“Yes. The principal only allows us to use the front part of the building. The rest is off limits because the building is old and accident prone so we have guides to give the tour so no one can get lost or wander off to where they shouldn’t go,” Tsutsui explained.

Everyone ‘ooh’-ed.

“Oh, I’m so nervous,” Akari said. “But it sounds exciting.”

“Yes, isn’t it?” the girls all giggled excitedly. The boys rolled their eyes. Just then, a scream was suddenly heard from the first floor.

The seniors at the ticket booth chuckled at the girls’ suddenly scared expressions and the boys’ nervous one, Hikaru and Mitani not included. They both looked bored. Sai looked quite scared himself, not that anyone but Hikaru could see him.

“Don’t worry. It’ll happen a lot tonight. Can’t blame them, though. The building itself is scary enough with all of the rumors so everyone who goes inside expects something to happen and they get scared easily when the ‘ghosts’ come out of nowhere,” Tsutsui explained with a quote gesture at the ‘ghosts’ word with his hands.

Everyone laughed nervously.

_“This is boring,”_ Hikaru thought to himself.

“You don’t know that, Hikaru. You haven’t even entered the building, yet,” Sai said. “Besides…this place makes me nervous,” the feminine looking ghost looked warily at the building, “It’s emitting dark auras. Maybe we shouldn’t go inside.”

_“Are you scared, Sai?”_ Hikaru asked teasingly.

“I’m not…!”

Sai’s protest was cut off as they entered the building. The moment they stepped into the building, a chill ran down Hikaru’s spine, making him shudder at the sudden coldness.

“Do you feel that, Hikaru?” Sai asked, more nervous than before.

_“You too, Sai?”_ Hikaru asked in his mind.

“I have a bad feeling, Hikaru. Maybe we should leave,” Sai suggested. Hikaru was about to reply when Akari called him.

“Hikaru, why are you just standing there? Come on,” Akari called.

“Maybe he’s scared,” Mitani smirked. Hikaru glared at him.

“Hurry, Shindou-kun.”

“Okay, okay. I’m coming,” Hikaru replied. _“Sorry, Sai. We can’t leave now. At least, the tour will be a short one. It’s only the front building after all and it only has two floors.”_

“But… If you say so, Hikaru…” Sai sighed. He still looked around nervously, though.

It was weird to see Sai so nervous and scared. He meant like really scared, not scared about being unable to play Go for a while or something but really, really scared of something, something unrelated to Go. Maybe this really was a bad idea. But they couldn’t leave now, especially when Mitani accused him of being scared, which he definitely was not. Reaching his hand behind discreetly, he took Sai’s hand in his and squeezed it in comfort.

_“Come on, then. The faster we move, the faster we can leave this place, okay?”_

Sai smiled gratefully at him. Everyone walked together and chatted, though a bit nervously what with the girls kept looking around as if expecting something to jump upon them. If Hikaru didn’t take his hand off Sai’s, the ghost didn’t say anything. Suddenly, everyone jumped in surprise when the girls, Kaneko excluded (the girl was a tough one), screamed loudly.

There, looking out of the window of the old classroom on their right side was a very pale male student with a haunted look in his eyes and covered in blood. Slowly, his mouth lifted in a creepy grin. The screams got louder this time as the boys joined them.

To Hikaru, the loudest scream came from Sai as the ghost wrapped his arms around Hikaru’s form from behind, screaming into his ear. Hikaru never knew a man could get his voice that high before. He was pretty sure he would be deaf by the end of this tour.

_“Sai! Shut up! You’re going to make me deaf!!”_ Hikaru screamed in his mind.

Everyone was trying to scramble away but Tsutsui prevented them. “Hey, guys! Calm down,” he laughed. “That’s my classmate.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

They heard a laugh and turned around to see the ‘ghost’ laughing freely. He stepped out of the classroom, shaking in laughter.

“I’m…sorry but…that reaction just…doesn’t get old at all,” the ghost gasped between laughter.

“Because it means you’re good at what you’re doing,” Tsutsui smiled. “Guys, this is Sakurazaka Yuuto.”

“Sakurazaka-senpai,” some of them greeted after calming down a bit.

“Man, you sure look scary,” Hikaru said grinning.

“Thanks. You didn’t look scared, though. Just surprised,” Sakurazaka grinned back at him.

Hikaru shrugged. “That’s because my ghostly friend over here was busy screaming in my ear so I didn’t have time to be scared.”

“Huh?” Everyone looked at him.

“What? Hikaru?”

Hikaru laughed. “What? I’m kidding!”

“Right,” Sakurazaka shook his head smiling, “Want to take a picture with the ghost? It’s part of our show~”

“Sure!” Akari was quick to agree.

Soon, everyone was standing in front of the camera and posing, except for Tsutsui, he was the one who took the picture, Hikaru standing with Sai still hanging from his neck.

_“Sai, how long do you plan hanging onto me like that?”_ Hikaru grumbled.

“I’m so sorry, Hikaru. But it was so scary. There’s something evil here,” Sai sniffled shakily.

_“Sai, it’s only Sakurazaka-senpai. He’s not a real ghost like you.”_

“No. I didn’t mean him, Hikaru. Yes, he looks scary but the one behind him…outside of the classroom window…”

_“What? What do you mean? Sai?”_

But Sai didn’t say anything anymore. He was too busy being afraid. Hikaru was forced to drag him along as they continued the tour. At this rate, he was going to end up with a fit and muscular body for a Go player. Not that he was complaining if that was the result.

“So, who was the one outside the classroom? You never introduced her to us, Tsutsui-senpai. She didn’t come to greet us, too.”

That comment stopped them. Everyone, including Hikaru and Sai, looked at Mitani in surprise.

“What?”

“What do you mean, Mitani-kun? There’s only Sakurazaka-senpai in that classroom. Isn’t it, Tsutsui-senpai?” Akari asked.

“Yeah,” Tsutsui also looked confused.

“Really? Must’ve been my imagination, then,” Mitani muttered and with that they started walking again. Though, Hikaru could see Mitani was throwing glances at his direction every now and then when he thought Hikaru wasn’t looking.

_“Sai, did Mitani ever give any indication that he could see you before?”_ Hikaru asked his companion.

“No, Hikaru. He didn’t. But the ghost behind that senpai was a girl, though,” Sai answered.

_“There really was a girl ghost behind that senpai? Outside the classroom?”_ Hikaru asked incredulously and a bit alarmed.

“Yes…” Sai replied softly.

“Tsutsui-senpai,” Hikaru called. “What is there on the other side of these classrooms?”

“Huh? It’s a yard. The yard was surrounded by this building on three sides. The front, where we are now, the right and the left. Excluding this front part, the rest was considered the back side of the building and off limits.”

“Why are you asking that, Hikaru?” Akari asked.

Hikaru shrugged. “Just curious,” he said.

The next ‘ghosts’ were just as scary as the first one. Some more than others. It seemed someone in Tsutsui’s class was a really good make-up artist. To Hikaru’s relief, Sai didn’t complain anymore about any ghost other than the seniors. The seniors still scared him, though. They were really creative.

Half way through the first floor, Akari stopped.

“Akari?” Hikaru looked at her.

“Fujisaki-san, what’s wrong?” Tsutsui asked as everyone turned to look at her.

Akari blushed furiously. “Ehm…Ano…I really need to go to the restroom…”

“What?” Hikaru said, annoyed. “Now?”

Akari glared at him. “Well, I was about to go before but Kaga-senpai found us and it’s not like he gave us any chance to protest before dragging us here!”

Tsutsui sighed. “That Kaga…” he shook his head. “Well, there’s a girls bathroom on this floor. Just go around the corner near the stairs, you should find it with no problem.”

“But…doesn’t that count as the back side of the building?” Akari asked worriedly.

“It’s okay. It’s only a toilet. I’m sure the principal won’t mind. It’s not like anybody will tell him,” Tsutsui assured with a smile. “We’ll wait here.”

“Uhmm…Hikaru, can you come with me?” Akari asked.

“What?” Hikaru asked in surprise. “Why me?! It’s a girl’s bathroom!”

“Just go with her, Shindou,” Mitani smirked.

“I’ll go with you, Fujisaki,” Kaneko said, “The boys here are useless anyway. If a ghost suddenly appears I bet they would be the first ones to faint. Shindou wouldn’t be any use if that happened.”

“What?! What did you say?” Hikaru was clearly feeling insulted. “You stay here, Kaneko-san. Come on, Akari! The faster we go, the faster we leave!”

Hikaru stomped away in annoyance. Akari smiled gratefully at Kaneko who winked back at her. Everyone in the club knew about her crush on Hikaru. Sadly, said boy didn’t have any clue about it.

**-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-**

Waiting in front of the restroom, Hikaru was grumbling and complaining. Sai was busy looking around in worry and confusion.

“What is it, Sai?” Hikaru asked in a whisper. Even though they were alone, the corridor was quiet enough that there was a possibility Akari could hear him talking.

“Hikaru, don’t you think it’s too silent all of a sudden?” Sai asked him. “It’s too quiet here. Not even a sound from Tsutsui and the others and we could still hear them a bit when we came here.”

Hikaru tried to listen. “Maybe they just ran out of topics to talk about,” he said.

“But, still…not even the sound of the wind…”

“You worry too much, Sai…”

“Hikaru, who are you talking to?”

Hikaru and Sai yelped in surprise when they heard Akari’s voice. “Akari, are you trying to give me a heart attack?!” Hikaru snapped as he grabbed his chest, trying to calm his racing heart.

“What? No…I just thought I heard you talking to someone,” Akari frowned.

“I was talking to myself,” Hikaru lied smoothly, “It just seems too quiet all of a sudden.”

“Well, we can go back to the others now. Thank you for coming with me, Hikaru,” Akari smiled shyly in thanks.

“Yeah, yeah,” Hikaru waved off her thanks casually. “Come on.”

They walked back to the corridor they came from but didn’t find any of their friends.

“Huh? Didn’t they say they would wait?” Hikaru frowned as he looked around.

“Yes, where are they?” Akari asked worriedly.

“Hikaru, look!” Sai tugged at his sleeve, “There’s someone there. Maybe we can ask them where the others are.”

Hikaru turned and looked at the direction Sai pointed. Around the corner of the corridor, a female student was standing with her back to them. She stood there looking down at her feet and didn’t do anything.

“Hey, maybe we should ask that senpai,” Hikaru said to Akari.

Akari looked uncertainly at the senpai Hikaru had pointed at. “I don’t know, Hikaru. Something feels strange…”

“Oh, come on. Maybe this is just part of the show and they want to scare us. She can tell us where Tsutsui-senpai and the others are.”

Together they walked down the corridor. The wooden floor creaked under their shoes as they walked. Hikaru felt shiver run down his spine. He noticed the closer they got to the senpai, the more uneasy he felt.

“Hikaru…” Akari held his arm tightly.

Hikaru looked at her and noticed that she was looking at the senpai worriedly. Maybe she felt something was wrong too. He glanced at Sai and noticed that the ghost was frowning.

“Hikaru, something is wrong,” Sai said.

Hikaru gulped. “Ano…,” he called the senpai. Akari’s grip tightened on his arm.

“Senpai, have you seen our friends? Tsutsui-senpai said he would wait for us here with our friends when we went to the toilet. Did you happen to see them?” Hikaru asked, uncharacteristically soft and polite.

The senpai nodded lightly but didn’t turn around.

“Where did they go?” Hikaru asked again.

The senpai raised her arm and pointed to a corridor to her left.

“Right. We’ll be going then. Thank you.”

The senpai nodded again. Both Hikaru and Akari walked past the senpai in the direction she pointed out to them. For some reason, they were trying not to turn and get a good look at the senpai. She was too creepy. All they wanted was to leave the place as fast as possible.

When they turned at another corner, out of sight from the senpai, Hikaru breathed a sigh of relief. “Man… That senpai sure is good. She really is scary and we didn’t even look at her face close up!”

Akari laughed nervously. “You, you’re right, Hikaru.”

Speaking of ghost, Hikaru glanced over at Sai. The thousand years old ghost looked paler than his normal complexion. Something that Hikaru thought wasn’t possible seeing as he was naturally pale and…well, ghosts were always pale, right?

_“Sai, what’s wrong?”_ Hikaru asked.

Just as Sai opened his mouth to answer, Akari’s voice cut in. “Hi-hikaru, do you hear that?”

“What?” Hikaru turned to look at his friend on his other side.

“That!” Akari said softly but her voice and eyes were full of fright. “That sound!”

Hikaru strained his hearing. He didn’t hear anything but their footsteps…wait a minute. It sounded like there was three pair of footsteps. How come? There was only Hikaru and Akari here, and Sai’s footsteps were soundless.

It sounded like it came from behind them.

Hikaru gulped as he shared a look at Akari. “I swear if this is a prank against us, I’m going to kill Tsutsui-senpai and our friends,” he said.

“I’ll help you hide the bodies,” Akari nodded.

Slowly they turned around together, preparing their heart for whatever trick that was playing on them. But they didn’t see anything. Looking at each other in confusion, their turned to look again when they heard the footsteps came closer.

And they saw it.

A pair of feet was walking towards them.

And when they said a pair of feet, they meant it literally just the feet up to the ankles! The rest were chopped off! It was barefoot and bleeding!

At once, they both screamed at the top of their lungs. The volume increased when the feet walked faster towards them in reaction to their screaming.

“RUN!!” Hikaru shouted.

He grabbed the still screaming Akari and Sai and ran as fast as he could. He could hear the feet running after them and sounded like it was coming closer and closer. Dammit! Hikaru could run faster if he didn’t have to drag his friends with him. But there was no way he could leave them, dammit!

So, all he could do was run away screaming bloody murder with his friends in each hand.

Their screams turned more hysterical when suddenly something crawled across the ceiling in front of them! A creepy woman crawling on hands and legs, eyes wide with madness and hair pulled down by gravity. A wide, crazy smile was decorating her face.

Hikaru felt his eyes water at his misfortune. Fortunately, there was a staircase in front of them. He thought he could reach them before the ceiling woman can came too close.

“Akari, the stairs!” Hikaru warned loudly.

Akari, whose attention finally snapped back, turned in time as Hikaru dragged her down the stairs. Otherwise, she would’ve lost her balance and toppled over.

She screamed when she heard high pitch laughter and turned to see that the ceiling woman was now crawling down the wall of the stairs.

“Hikaru, she’s still following us!” Akari and Sai gasped at the same time.

“I really didn’t wanna know that!” Hikaru shouted back.

“Hikaru, go inside the classroom!” Sai pointed to an open door.

“Akari, the classroom!”

They ran into the empty classroom. Hikaru slid the door closed and leaned his body against it to keep it closed. They heard the crawling woman got closer as loud as ever and then she kept going, crawling passed the classroom door and wall. Akari slapped her hands to her mouth to keep hold of her scream at the frightening sight. Hikaru could see the creepy woman’s silhouette pass behind him on the floor. A moment later, she disappeared from sight.

Silence.

After he was sure it was safe, Hikaru sighed in relief and slid onto the floor. “Okay. That is frightening and I’m pretty sure our seniors are not that good with their tricks.”

“I-I don’t think this is part of the senpais’ tricks, Hikaru. That woman’s just like the one in the rumors. No way can they make someone crawl on the ceiling and walls,” Akari said, her voice still shaking a bit. Sai voiced his agreement.

“I was afraid you were going to say that,” Hikaru sighed.

They jumped when they heard a rattle sound from the corner of the room. They looked up and saw that it was not a classroom they were in. It was a lab. Their attentions were on the corner of the room as something moving out of the shadow. Something glinting in the moonlight near the window.

The unlucky trio watched with trepidation as someone stepped out of the shadow. No, not someone. Maybe once upon a time it was someone but now… The body moved with no problem despite losing its head, blood pouring out of the neck, hand lifted intimidatingly with a bloody knife in its grip.

It stepped closer. And they all screamed. Again.

The lab’s door was slammed open in a flash as Hikaru, Akari and Sai ran for their life…err…for his soul in Sai’s case. Despite being in a hysterical panic, they remembered to take the opposite route of the crawling woman and ran up the stairs.

“You kidding me! First, it’s bodiless feet! Crazy wall-crawling woman! And now a headless body?! What have I ever done to deserve this?!” Hikaru cried in distress as he looked back and saw the headless body with knife still following them.

“Look! That’s the senpai from before!” Akari pointed. “She could help us!”

“Senpai! Help!” Hikaru shouted.

“No, Hikaru!” Sai warned. “That senpai is…!”

The senpai, whom they asked for directions from before, was still standing with her back to them. But as Hikaru asked for help, she turned around slowly. Hikaru immediately regretted calling her as he took in all of the blood on the lower part of her face where her missing jaw should be.

They screamed again.

Finally, it became too much for the poor teenagers. As Hikaru felt his world turn dark, he could faintly heard Sai shouting his name.

**-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-**

“Shindou! Shindou, are you alright?”

“Hikaru!”

“Akari!”

“Hey, Fujisaki!”

Hikaru’s head was pounding and the voices that keep shouting around him really did not help. He groaned and opened his eyes only close them immediately under the assault of a blinding flashlight.

“Ugh! Get rid of that, would you? My head hurts!” Hikaru complained.

“Hikaru!” came the relieved shout.

“Shindou! He’s awake!”

“Oh, shut up!” Hikaru grouched as he tried to sit up. He looked up to find Tsutsui-senpai and everyone from Go club surrounding him. Sai was so relieved he hugged Hikaru tightly while crying. Beside him, Akari was laying out cold.

“Akari?” Hikaru shook her shoulder. “Akari!”

“Hikaru, what happened?” Tsutsui-senpai asked with a concerned face.

“Hi…karu?” Akari opened her eyes and got up immediately. “Hikaru!”

“Akari, calm down!” Hikaru said.

“Fujisaki, are you alright?”

“Yes, I…I think so…Oh my God, Hikaru! That was so scary! Tell me it was just a dream!” Akari said, nearly hyperventilating.

“Nope. I don’t think so,” Hikaru shook his head.

“Can you to tell us what happened that made you two faint in front of the restroom?!” Mitani snapped, running out of patience.

“Passed out!” Hikaru snapped back.

“Fainted!” Mitani taunted him.

“Yes, what happened?” Tsutsui-senpai asked, “We were looking for you when you took too long to come back but didn’t find you. And just when we turned around, suddenly there were loud thumps and we came back and found you two unconscious.”

“We’re in front of the toilet?” Akari asked looking at the restroom sign in surprise. “I thought…Oh, it was so scary, Senpai! There were so many ghosts chasing us!”

“What?!”

**-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-**

**A few days later…**

“Fujisaki!”

Everyone turned around as the science classroom’s door was slammed open and an excited Tsutsui burst inside. He had an envelope and was holding several pieces of papers, which they found out to be photos.

“Oh, Tsutsui-senpai, are those our pictures from the festival?” Akari asked excitedly.

“Really? Where? I want to see~” The girls immediately said.

“Yes, they’re the pictures from the festival. Look!” Tsutsui spread the photos across the table as everyone began to surround said table. “Fujisaki, you and Hikaru said that you guys were chased by ghosts, right? See what I found in these pictures!”

Everyone looked at the pictures and was confused.

“What is it, senpai? They look pretty normal to me.”

“No, wait. Look at that one and this one, too.”

They looked at the pictures that were pointed out and saw what their senior meant. There. Standing either beside or behind Hikaru was a transparent blurry image. Sometimes, what looked like shadow of arms hugging him from behind. The shadowy figure was big and they could not get a clear image of it but it looked like it was wearing traditional robes or something.

And that figure only appeared in the pictures where there was Hikaru in them. Other pictures didn’t have it. They all looked at each other.

“SHINDOU!!!”

“HIKARU!!!”

**-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-**

**Meanwhile…**

“But seriously, what happened that night in the old building after I passed out, Sai?” Hikaru asked as they walked their way to the Go Institute. “Do you know where the ghosts go?”

Sai shook his head. “I don’t know, Hikaru. All I know is that suddenly you and Akari fainted…”

“Passed out! Chicks faint!” Hikaru protested loudly.

“And then they kept coming and I was so scared something happened to you and…and I felt so angry. I never felt so angry before and suddenly they ran away at the same time your friends came and found you,” Sai tried to explain.

“Huh?” Hikaru looked confused. “So, we just need to get you angry to chase them off? Why didn’t you say that?”

“You don’t know that,” Sai said to him. “I still don’t know what happened. Maybe they just ran because your friends came.”

“You know what? Maybe you’re right. There’s no way you could scare them off. You were too busy crying in fright to do anything,” Hikaru said nodding his head.

“Hikaru!” Sai pouted.

“Besides, it’s kind of unbelievable that you’ve never meet another ghost before the festival. Shouldn’t the past be full of those things?” Hikaru said again. “Hopefully, we won’t meet any ghost anymore, though. One ghost in my life is more than enough for me. Especially if said ghost is as pathetic as you.”

“Hikaru!”

“What? It’s true! You cried the first time Sakurazaka-senpai scared us, remember? You’re just a scaredy-cat~,” Hikaru teased.

“Hikaru, you’re so mean!” Sai sulked in embarrassment because Hikaru was kind of right. Only kind of, though.

“Oh come on, it’s the truth. Don’t sulk. Ah, we’ve arrived,” Hikaru said, as they got closer to the building.

_“You know what, Sai? I’ll let you play several games in a salon if you stop sulking,”_ Hikaru promised.

“Huh? Really, Hikaru?” Sai brightened up immediately like a light bulb.

_“I promise.”_

“Waaai~ Hikaru, you’re the best!” And with that he threw himself at the young boy again in happiness, latching on like a leech and not letting go.

_“Hey, watch it!”_

**~Fin~**

 

 


	3. Hate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shindou Hikaru hated the Go world.

Shindou Hikaru hated the Go world.

Shock?

Yeah. That would be what people’s reactions would be if they knew about it. But they didn’t know because Shindou Hikaru was a trained liar.

He didn’t hate Go. Quite the opposite in fact, he loved the game because the only place he could find and meet Sai again was on a goban.

He just hated the world people built around the game. He also hated the people in that world, including his friends.

Why?

Because most of them were as selfish as him, if not more.

Their obsession with Go, their forcefulness, their disregard of other people’s wishes and privacy just to get what they wanted were the reasons that led him to prevent Sai from playing. And that led to the ghost’s disappearance.

So, yeah, he blamed the Go world and the people in it for his precious friend’s disappearance.

After Sai disappeared, he kept on thinking why his friend had left him. The more he thought about it, the more he saw what had made him make the choices he did.

He hated Touya Akira and his high-almighty attitude. He motivated Hikaru to play Go but the moment he didn’t live up to his standards, he turned away without a backward glance, sneering at and scorning him.

But when Hikaru decided to stop playing Go, he came and demanded his reason and would not leave him alone. He didn’t even care to notice Hikaru’s state of grieving at the time, what with his eyes red from crying. In fact, none of the people who came looking for him did. Isumi only noticed because Hikaru was outright crying in front of him.

He hated Waya Yoshitaka and his theory about Sai being a child. Because of him, Hikaru got unwanted attention from unwanted people, which prevented him from letting Sai play, even on the net.

He hated Ogata Seiji and his obsession with Sai. The way he chased him after he overheard Hikaru’s conversation with Touya Meijin made Hikaru shudder and boil with anger at the same time. The man was so single-minded. He didn’t care about anything other than his own selfish wishes.

Hikaru was bruised on the shoulder and back after he was practically slammed into the hospital wall. He hated him for making Sai feeling guilty about it, thinking that it was because of him that Hikaru got into trouble and got hurt.

He also hated Touya Kouyo, the former Meijin, for it was his game with Sai that seemed to cause Sai’s disappearance. He noticed how strange his ghostly friend acted after the game. To his everlasting regret, he only noticed after it was too late.

But most of all, though, Hikaru hated himself. He hated himself for being selfish. For not being a better host for Sai like Torajiro did. For wanting to play Go himself. For being such an attention-seeking brat because he wanted people to see his own game and strength, to acknowledge him and not Sai. He hated himself for not believing Sai when he told Hikaru he would disappear soon. He hated himself for kept denying Sai’s existence to the world until he really disappeared. He didn’t deserve to play Go because his Go was built upon Sai’s misery and sacrifice. From Sai’s very own reason to existence.

But he kept playing anyway. Because that was the only way for him to remember his Sai, to meet the most important person in his life again.

That was why Shindou Hikaru would always smile, laugh, joke and play with the people he hated. Because he needed them to play Go.

Therefore, no one would ever know about the amount of hatred he held for them and for himself. He would endure all of it if it meant he would keep seeing Sai whenever he played.

 

**~Fin~**


	4. First Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang is sharing their first love stories.

It was supposed to be just a normal outing. Once a month, Hikaru and his friends, which consisted of fellow pros and non-pros, would gather to hang out together and catch up on each other’s lives.

There were Touya Akira and Akari who got married six months ago. Since they lived in Tokyo and were in constant interaction with Hikaru, what with Akira and Hikaru being pros and Akari and Hikaru being childhood friends, there were few things they didn’t know about going on in each other’s lives.

Isumi Shinichirou and Nase Asumi were both Hikaru’s old insei classmates. Hikaru was still in contact with Isumi constantly because of their profession but the same could not be said with Nase. Until recently, she worked as a kindergarten teacher of all things, and was constantly trying to teach her students to play Go; early influence, she said. She finally passed her pro exam a couple of months ago and was looking forward to her new future. Isumi and Nase had been dating for a while now and people could see their relationship was quite serious. Hikaru thought he could hear the wedding bells in the near future.

Waya Yoshitaka was also one of the people who were in constant contact with Hikaru. He was still the energetic person he was when he was a teenager but thankfully had matured enough to not throw a fit when things didn’t go the way he expected. His tact was still the same, though. Meaning, he was still as tactless as ever.

Honda was married to a lovely woman who didn’t understand Go even after he tried to teach her due to her lack of interest in the game, but her love for him made up for it. That was the most important thing as his friends told him and he agreed.

Ochi was still single. He was too busy chasing Akira and Hikaru, wanting to prove that he could be the best Go player too, to focus on anything else. Everyone tried to get him loosen up a little. Sometimes they succeeded; sometimes it was just too much of a lost cause. He was one the highest rankers among their peers, though.

Several of their friends couldn’t make it to the outing but there was still a lot of people. What made this outing a bit special was Yashiro’s presence. The man lived in Osaka so it was a bit difficult to see him unless there was an important event where they were all invited. Usually, they only saw him about once or twice a year. That was why Hikaru agreed to come today when usually he always tried to escape.

Huh? Why did he try to escape? Didn’t you read just who the people that came to this outing were? With Waya’s temper and animosity towards Akira, which didn’t decrease at all over the years, Ochi’s over-competitive nature, Isumi’s teasing that didn’t always come out at the right time, Akira’s aloof personality and sometimes condescending attitude – not that he realized it, come to think of it, Ochi was worse, and Hikaru’s own personality and temper…

Yeah, you could say it wouldn’t be a boring outing. But did you know how many times they were thrown out of places because of the chaos they caused? They were adults for goodness sake!

Hikaru would rather not be involved with another one because somehow he was always the one who got blamed for it. Just because he was a bit of a troublemaker when he was still a teenager and tended to draw attention to him, everyone immediately assumed it was his fault. Even Waya rarely got blamed even though he was just as bad if not worse than Hikaru.

Like that time when they went out for dinner and some drinks after a recent Go event. Hikaru lost his grip on his chopsticks and as a result, the shrimp he was trying to get launched off his chopsticks and accidentally hit Waya right on his forehead. Normally, people would just let it go, as it was an accident, but not Waya. He got pissed and decided that payback was in order. He threw an eggroll at Hikaru, except that it missed because Hikaru dodged in time and it hit Isumi instead. Hikaru tried to apologize but Waya wouldn’t have it and kept trying and kept missing until they ended up in a food fight in the middle of a restaurant. They got kicked out and banned from the place after that.

To be fair, Waya had just lost at an important game and had gotten dumped by his girlfriend at the time. But still, somehow Hikaru got all the blame for the incident while Waya got all the sympathy for his loss. There were other similar incidents too but Hikaru didn’t want to dwell on it.

Anyway, back to Yashiro. Hikaru looked at his watch and then looked around. He took a sip of his drink while leaning his head closer to Akira. “Why isn’t Yashiro here yet?”

Akira checked the time. “There’s still five minutes left, Hikaru. Be patient,” he said.

“What is it?” Akari asked.

“Just Hikaru being impatient.”

“That’s nothing new,” Akari said amused.

Hikaru huffed.

“Hey guys!” They turned around to see Yashiro coming to their table. “I hope you didn’t wait for long.”

“Nah, you’re not even late, dude,” Waya said.

“So, how’s everyone?” Yashiro asked as he took a seat beside Hikaru.

And they began to catch up with each other. Apparently, Yashiro had just risen in rank, officially a 7 Dan in rank now. Everyone offered their congratulations. Time passed. They ate dinner at another place, a new restaurant that was recommended by Akira’s parents. The couple was getting closer to each other ever since their son got married and moved out of the house, and went on dates any time, anywhere.

After dinner, they went for a drink at another place. It was a small, pretty popular bar not far away from the restaurant.

Everyone kept talking like there was no tomorrow. It was like they could always find a new topic to talk about when the previous one was finished. There was no disaster or any incident this time, though, much to everyone’s relief. Then slowly, they excused themselves one by one until the only ones left were Hikaru, Akira, Akari, Yashiro, Waya, Isumi and Nase.

“Okay, we need a new topic,” Nase decided, “Not a boring, impersonal one but a fun one.”

“Okay, any idea?” Isumi asked.

“I have an idea!” Nase cheered suddenly and almost toppled off her chair, it seemed she was a little drunk. Then she wore the cutest serious drunk expression and said, “First love.”

Waya and Yashiro snorted. Akari giggled while her husband shook his head in amusement. Isumi looked at his girlfriend fondly. Hikaru paused a bit before smiling, no one noticed the change.

“Okay, why don’t you start with yourself then?” Waya challenged.

Nase hummed. “My first love…it was when I was in the third grade. There was this boy in my class who was a loner. He was pretty cool for a boy. His name was Mamoru. The girls liked him but no one dared to approach him.”

“Why?”

“Because he had these dark eyes that could freeze hell. Apparently, he hated fan girls. His older brother was as popular as him and it got him nothing but trouble. His brother spent less and less time with him because of girls and he hated it. But I decided to confess to him anyway.”

“No way.”

“Yes. On Valentines Day. I asked my mom to help me make chocolate for him. I was so excited at the time. And so nervous and scared that he would hate it.”

“Did he?”

“Oh yeah,” Nase smiled at the memory, “I gave it to him after school. I was blushing and everything and he just looked at me and then the chocolate in my hand and then back at me. He took it and dropped it to the floor and stepped on it and said he didn’t like me, breaking my heart with great success.”

“What a douchebag!” Waya exclaimed. “I can’t believe a third grader could be so cruel!”

Everyone else looked at Nase with sympathy. She waved it off like it was nothing.

“Oh, it was a long time ago. Anyway, I cried obviously and didn’t want to come to school for two days. By the time I went to school, he wasn’t there anymore. His father got transferred to another place so the family moved away. But when I got back home, there was a package waiting for me. It was from him. He gave me this very pretty, white ribbon and said he was sorry that he hurt my feelings and his brother said he was supposed to apologize. I think his brother helped him to buy the ribbon, it looked expensive.”

“That’s nice. At least he apologized,” Akari said.

“Mm-hmm~ I never heard from him or met him again but I still have the ribbon with me. I keep it with my other treasures,” Nase clapped, “Okay, who else?”

“Uhm…mine was my math teacher from fourth grade,” Isumi said. “She was the youngest, kindest and prettiest teacher in my school. She got married when I was in fifth grade. I never confessed.”

“Aaaw~ that’s so sweet~” Nase giggled.

“But boring,” Waya said. “You finished the story in four sentences!”

“Give us your story then if you think you could do better,” Isumi said, flicking fries at the other man.

“Well, I was five,” Waya began.

“Oooh~ that’s early~,” Nase teased.

“Shut up. I grew up fast, so what?” Waya said smugly. “Anyway, I was five and there was this little girl from the next class in the kindergarten. I can’t remember her name anymore. She always tied her hair in pigtails and was very cute. I liked her from day one. Not that I told her that. In fact, I liked her so much I teased her endlessly every day.”

Hikaru snorted. “Pulling pigtails, typical,” he muttered, earning a laugh from everyone including Waya for once. Usually he would retaliate on any comment directed at him.

“Yes. She hated me because I always made her cry and it made me frustrated that she hated me and made me tease her more. One day, a stray dog…well, strayed into the kindergarten yard while all of the kids were playing. The dog chased her around and the other kids ran in fright. She screamed and cried and when she fell and was cornered, I just couldn’t leave her facing it alone so I grabbed a stick and got between her and the dog.”

“The little hero!” Yashiro teased.

Waya kicked him under the table before continuing the story. “Well, I was so scared when I got a close up look at the dog. It had scary face, I’m telling ya. The dog barked and took a bite at the stick I was holding, we were having a tug of war until one of the teachers came out and chased the dog out of the place. The girl was crying while the teacher took care of her scrapped knees and I tried to comfort her by giving her my candies. She was so grateful for me defending her that she kissed me on the cheek and we became friends after that.”

“Awwwww~ that’s so cuteeee~” Nase and Akari cooed.

“Until I accidentally broke her new Barbie doll from her birthday a week later and she declared that she hated me and would hate me forever and ever,” Waya finished.

Everyone burst out laughing,

“Okay, I have to admit that it’s a better story than mine,” Isumi said laughing.

“Okay, who’s next?” Nase asked excitedly after the laughter died down, “Yashiro?”

“Me? Oh no! I’m not sharing any story,” Yashiro said.

“Oh come on! Everyone’s sharing. Don’t be a spoilsport,” Waya said. “Besides, the more you avoid it, the more curious we are. Just tell us!”

After a bit more encouragement, more like forcing from Waya and Nase, Yashiro gave in.

“Okay, okay!” Yashiro said, holding his hands up in surrender. “Geez…this feels like high school all over again. Like giggling high school girls.”

Hikaru snorted again, “Understatement of the year.”

“And how do you know about high school, Hikaru? You didn’t attend one,” Akari said, lifting an eyebrow.

“I don’t have to, to know a chick-flick moment. You girls did this too back in junior high in Haze if I’m not wrong,” Hikaru pointed out.

“True,” Akari giggled.

“So you wanna hear my story or not?” Yashiro asked dryly.

“Please,” Akira said politely.

“Okay, my first love didn’t happen until I was in junior high. I was too focused on Go when I was a kid,” Yashiro said, earning understanding grunts from the Go players at the table. “Anyway, there was this bully back in my school. He loved to bully anyone he saw as weak or pathetic. His name was Ishida. I was teased a lot for playing an old mans game as he called it. He liked to push me around and call me an old man. My hair didn’t help either.”

“Ouch…a bully. That’s one of the types of people I hate,” Waya wrinkled his nose.

“Pot, kettle,” Hikaru coughed into his fist. Waya shot him a confused look while everyone tried to stifle a smile. Sometimes, Waya did act like a bully, a little, when it came to Akira. It was inevitable with his one-sided animosity towards him but he got better with time. A little.

Akira shot an understanding smile at Yashiro. He remembered the time when he was in Kaio’s Go club. The members there didn’t like him and three of them tried to give him trouble with those blind games. Thankfully, they were peaceful enough that they never thought to make things physical. After their senpai caught them red-handed, they never tried anything again.

Other kids in his life were not kind to him either because he was the son of Touya Meijin. Also, somehow, he was the stuck up genius who looked down on them and felt that he was too good to befriend other kids. Where they got these kinds of thoughts about him, he had no idea. But the result was him not having many nice experiences with kids his age. Waya was a prime example.

“I think they’re everyone’s least favorite type of people,” Nase said.

“Yeah. Anyway, there was this girl…Yayoi Manami, not the primadona of the school but she was still cute. She was very nice too, she still is. At the time, she faced the same problem as mine. Her parents didn’t approve of her choice of becoming an artist while mine didn’t approve of me becoming a professional Go player. So we kind of…connected, as lame as that sounded…”

“Not really,” everyone commented. Yashiro smiled.

“So we complained to each other in turn about our problems and also supported each other. She’s the reason I went ahead and took the pro exam even though my parents didn’t like it. She said, and I quote, ‘the situation might be bad and the bad might be hard but at least we’re living our lives and nobody else’s’.”

“Nice quote,” Isumi nodded approvingly.

“Nice? I think it’s really good,” Hikaru said.

“Yeah,” Yashiro nodded. “I encouraged her to pursue her dream too. And when graduation came, I realized that somewhere along the way…I fell in love with her.”

Nase and Akari squealed in delight at the confession.

“But I was at the beginning of my career and too much of a coward to tell her. So I missed my chance.”

“What?!”

“Hey, calm down! The story’s not finished yet!” Yashiro said, holding his hands up at the outraged looks from the girls. “We kept in touch after graduation but it’s difficult, especially when we’re not in the same school anymore, so after a year we lost contact. I met her again in a Go convention at a hotel where she stopped by to look around. I just happened to be one of the pros that were invited and she attended a seminar at the same hotel for references for her college paper of something. And…”

“And…?” Nase asked him.

Yashiro smirked. He pulled out something from his suit jacket and handed it to her. It was an invitation. “And we’re going to be married next month,” he said.

The table exploded in excitement. The guys clapped his back in congratulation while the girls squealed and gave him tight hugs.

“I didn’t even know you had a girlfriend, dude!” Waya exclaimed.

“You never asked,” Yashiro shrugged as he gave each of them their invitation. “Anyway, I want you guys to come.”

“Absolutely,” Akira raised his glass of beer. “To Yashiro.”

“To Yashiro!” Everyone cheered, raising their glasses also.

“Congrats, man!” Hikaru clapped him on the back again.

“Oh my God! This is so exciting~” Nase said.

“I agree! Oh, wedding, dresses, flowers~,” Akari agreed.

“Girls!” Waya shook his head.

Their talked excitedly about Yashiro and his soon-to-be-wife’s plans for the future a little more. The girls were curious about the wedding plan, whether it was going to be a western style or a traditional Japanese one. After fifteen minutes of this, the excitement died down a bit and Nase brought them back to their earlier topic.

“So, who’s next? Akari and Touya? How about how you guys? Are you each other’s first love?”

Hikaru snorted into his beer. Both Akari and Akira blushed and looked a bit awkward and just offered a smile to each other.

“What?” Nase asked.

“Oh, I bet Akari’s first love was Shindou,” Waya grinned cheekily. “You guys are childhood friends, right? That’s usually how the stories go.”

This time it was Hikaru who was feeling awkward. He coughed and cleared his throat a bit. Akari just blushed a little bit but got over it quickly and smirked.

“You’re right. My first love is Hikaru. We grew up together after all. We’re neighbors so it’s expected. Our parents even thought that we would end up with each other but…that just wasn’t meant to be.”

“Really? You guys ever dated?” Waya asked.

“Waya,” Isumi said, looking at Akira apologetically,

“It’s okay,” Akira said, trying very hard to hide a smirk. “I don’t mind hearing it.”

“Nah, we never dated,” Hikaru waved his hand dismissively.

“Yes. Hikaru rejected me when we’re seventeen,” Akari said lightly.

“What? Why? Akari’s cute!” Nase said.

“She’s beautiful,” Akira added his piece, earning a blush from his wife.

“Newlyweds,” Waya muttered.

“Because I didn’t feel the same way. To me, she’s like a sister,” Hikaru explained.

“Okay... how about you, Touya?” Nase asked him.

Both Hikaru and Akira blushed and coughed. “Well…I met my first love when I was twelve at my father’s Go salon.”

“Figures that your first love would be a Go player,” Waya snickered. “So you beat her at Go or did you let her win?”

“Neither. He beat me twice and then became my rival ever since,” Akira said with a wide, innocent smile. To other people, it was just a normal smile but since this was Touya Akira who smiled, it was practically a Cheshire grin.

Silence.

And then…

“WHAT?!”

Everyone exploded in shock. They all looked at Akira and Akari and then Hikaru in disbelief.

“It’s one of the things we have in common. Isn’t that right, dear?” Akari smiled sweetly at her husband.

“That it is, darling,” Touya returned the smile.

Hikaru snickered at the look on everyone’s faces. After years of dealing with Hikaru, Akira had developed a wicked sense of humor. Especially, after dealing with both Hikaru and Akari when they were in one of their friendly spats. The snickers turned into chuckles and kept getting louder until it was full blown laughter.

“Oh my God! You guys should look at your faces! It’s priceless!” Hikaru laughed loudly.

“Ha. Bloody. Ha!” Waya said snarky. “Seriously, Touya!”

“I’m serious,” Akira said, lifting an eyebrow. “It’s true. But I never confessed to Hikaru and we never dated.”

“Oh my God!” Nase said and then giggled. “This is like one of those gay romance stories or something.”

Yashiro snickered and nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, right. You never confessed,” Hikaru leered, “You rendered me speechless when you said you were in love with me at the day of your wedding.”

Everyone gaped at them. Akari smacked Hikaru’s arm.

“Hey, that was Akari’s idea, actually,” Touya defended. “Just so I didn’t have any unfinished business before…”

“Before you started your new life together, I know,” Hikaru smirked.

“So…” Waya said after he got over his shock, “You’re bi? Like Shindou? I mean, he had girlfriends and boyfriends before.”

“I don’t know. Maybe,” Akira shrugged. “I just know that I loved him and now I love my wife.”

“Aaaaaw~” Nase cooed at the couple.

“I guess you can say I don’t care about labels,” Akira added.

“Hear, hear,” Hikaru nodded in agreement.

“What about you then, Shindou? You’re the last one who hasn’t told us your story yet,” Yashiro asked.

Hikaru paused. He suddenly looked more sober. Akari and Akira looked at him sympathetically. They didn’t know the whole story or any of it at all but they did know that his first love didn’t end well for their friend and he was still mourning about it.

“What?” Nase asked at the sudden heavy feeling around the three.

“Nothing,” Hikaru said, smiling softly. “I just never really told anyone about this before.”

“Hikaru…” Akari touched his arm. “You don’t have to…”

Hikaru shook his head. “It’s okay, Akari. I want to, I think…”

“Is it that bad?” Waya asked worriedly, “Because, you know, if it is then…”

“I was twelve when I met him,” Hikaru cut him off and began his story. “I met him right before I met Akira. He was a grown man. And he changed my life the moment I met him. He was the one who taught me how to play Go. To love Go. I didn’t even realize I loved him until he was gone.”

“Gone as in…”

“Gone as in dead,” Hikaru confirmed. “The thing I regret the most is the way I treated him in his last moments. I wasn’t the nicest person to him at the time.”

Everyone didn’t say anything as he paused. No one dared. They had never seen Hikaru like this before. It was a strange sight to see him so…not depressed exactly, but close enough.

“When did he…you know?” Waya asked carefully.

“Ten years ago.”

Isumi’s eyes widened as he suddenly figured it out. “It was that time when you stopped playing, wasn’t it? When you decided to quit Go.”

Hikaru nodded, forcing a smile. “He was the reason I started to play. Go was the reason he existed. If he couldn’t play, then I didn’t want to play. But then…you asked me to play after you came back from China and…I found him. I looked for him everywhere I could and couldn’t find him, couldn’t feel his presence close to me anymore and in the end…it was on the thing I avoided the most is where I can find him.”

“In your Go style. Because students will always have a bit of their teacher’s style in their Go,” Isumi said understandingly. “I was shocked when you suddenly cried in the middle of the game and you never told me why.”

“Yeah,” Hikaru smiled softly. “I’m still looking for him, you know. I still feel like if I keep looking, I’ll find him again. Not just in my Go but here, with me. I recently realized that my ex-lovers…they all reminded me of him in one way or another.”

“Hikaru…” Akari hold his hand. She looked so sad for her friend; her eyes were bright as she held in her tears.

“So…did you and him ever…you know?” Waya asked again.

“Waya!”

“What? I’m just curious! Because Shindou was a kid and that person was a grown man and it’s creepy when you think about it…and…”

“Waya!”

“And Shindou looks like he needs to get this off his chest, you know!”

Hikaru chuckled at his friends’ antics. “It’s okay. Waya’s right. I need to do this…I’ve been keeping it to myself for more than a decade. I think you guys would agree that it’s not healthy, right?”

“Only if you’re sure,” Isumi said uncertainly.

“I’m sure. Not that I will tell you everything but I still want to tell you guys something. And to answer your question, Waya, it’s a no. We never did anything. I mean, I already told you I didn’t even know how I felt until I lost him. All the time we were together, we were like student and teacher, best friends, and sometimes brothers.”

“What did he look like?”

“Beautiful,” Hikaru’s smile was more genuine this time. “He was the most beautiful person that had ever walked the earth. You think my ex-lovers were beautiful? They’re nothing compared to him. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures to show you. He just exists in my memories now.”

Everyone was silent as Hikaru took a gulp of his drink.

“So that’s why your love life is always a mess. You’re looking for someone who’s gone,” Waya commented. He wilted when everyone but Hikaru glared at him.

“I guess you could say that,” Hikaru shrugged.

“But Shindou…Hikaru…don’t you think it’s time to move on? It’s been ten years. You can’t let your past hold you back from happiness. Surely he doesn’t want that,” Nase said sagely.

Hikaru just smiled. “Maybe, but…he’s not just a first love you can get over with time. Because that’s not what he was, you know. He was not a simple first love you get over with. He was one of a kind. No one had ever been as close to me as he was, not even Akari. He is my – quoting Akari’s sappy words here – my other half, my one and only.”

“But Nase-san’s right, you know,” Yashiro said. “You’ve got to move on sooner or later. Otherwise, you’ll end up alone for the rest of your life and…you don’t deserve that.”

Hikaru looked down at his drink thoughtfully and then looked up again with a wide smile. “You’re right. I guess it’s time for me to try and move on, huh?” he clapped his hands on his knees and got up. “Anyway, it’s late. I think it’s time for us to go home.”

“You’re right,” Akari agreed. “I promised my mom we would go shopping tomorrow.”

“Home it is, then,” Akira said.

They all got up and paid the bill. As they got to the parking lot, Hikaru was the first one who got in his car and left. He waved at his friends with a smile too wide for their liking. They watched in silence as he drove off, practically running away from them as fast as he could.

“Mysterious as ever, huh? Except for his gender, there’s no other information. No name, hair color, eye color, personality, job, where he was from…” Waya grumbled.

“Hikaru’s good like that,” Akira chuckled.

Silence.

“He’s not going to even try, is he?” Nase asked.

“Nope. He won’t,” Akari said sadly.

 

**~Fin~**

 


	5. The Legacy of Sai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A conversation over lunch got Hikaru thinking. He ends up in his grandpa’s dusty shed.

The attic hadn’t changed in the last twelve years. It was still filled with many old things; some were downright antique and looked valuable while others were just things from precious memories of the past. Everything was covered in a thin a layer of dust, indicating that the place was cleaned at least once a month. Except for one special spot.

A lone figure sat in silence in front of an old goban. That old board was the only thing in the place that was cleaned regularly, almost religiously. Not even a speck of dust could be found on its surface.

The figure traced a hand over the surface of the board. Fingers were kissing the lines lovingly. A soft sob escaped, followed by a deep breath.

“Sai…,” Hikaru’s voice echoed in the room. Bright eyes, suspiciously glassy, were looking at the board longingly.

It had been twelve years since the time Hikaru called “The Holy Encounter”. It had been twelve years since he fainted embarrassingly after seeing a ghost appear out of a goban for the first and the last time. It had been twelve years since he was blessed with the most beautiful sight he had ever seen that had became his most precious person.

Normally, he didn’t feel so melancholy when he visited the goban. Sure, he missed Sai, terribly. He would always miss his old friend. He came to his grandparents’ house regularly to visit the goban whenever he had something he wanted to share with Sai, and to play with his grandpa who was so proud of who Hikaru had become these days. His grandpa never knew what Hikaru did; spending so much time in the attic, but he understood that it was important for his only grandson so he usually left him alone and only bugged him with Go after he came down. Hikaru felt very grateful with the lack of questions. He was not ready to share Sai with anyone yet, if ever. He rarely felt mellow let alone downright…well, down whenever he visited. But today was different.

**-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-**

It started with a casual talk at the Go Association with his friends. He happened to bump into Waya and Isumi on the way out and they decided to have lunch together. After a ten minute fight between Hikaru and Waya, Isumi suggested they go to a nearby restaurant who served both sushi and ramen and many other variations of Japanese food.

When both hot-headed pros demanded to know why they didn’t know about this place before, Isumi said it was because the restaurant was a bit on the elite and expensive side and both of them were too cheap to be bother with the place, even though they both earned a pretty sizeable amount of money.

The restaurant was designed traditionally. They sat in a tatami covered room complete with the sliding paper doors that was quite cozy. As they settled themselves, Waya voiced his confusion about how a restaurant as posh as this place served food as undignified as ramen on their menu. That resulted in another shouting match between him and Hikaru while Isumi just sighed. Before the older man could said anything, though, the sliding door behind him that connected them to the next room was suddenly slammed open.

Hikaru and Waya were surprised into silence as the three of them looked at the annoyed yet equally surprised Ogata Jyuudan. The surprised look on the bespectacled man’s face turned into a glare when he recognized who the culprits of the chaos were. Behind him, a couple of senior pros and a certain ex-Meijin and his son were looking at them in either surprise or amusement.

In the end, after a good snide remark from Ogata about their manners, they were all invited to join the older pros. Isumi and Waya did so shyly while Hikaru gave everyone a casual yet polite greeting. He clapped Touya hard on the back as his own special greeting for his rival which earned him a half-hearted glare from said rival.

Anyway, the other pros whom had not been mentioned yet were Kurata amd Ashiwara. There was also Amano, the reporter who happened to be blocked from view by Ogata earlier. Apparently, he had an interview with Touya-sensei and they decided to do it over lunch.

Lunch was pretty uneventful. They only talked about recent Go events, the new pros, their hopes for the future of Go world, the title matches, Go, Go, Go, Go, Go… All in all, it was pretty boring for Hikaru since it showed him how much everyone in the room practically talked Go, breathed Go, and maybe even dreamt Go in their sleep. They lived for Go and nothing else! Boring…

Sure, Hikaru loved Go. But he still did something else other than Go in his life like going to karaoke or watching movies once in awhile with Akari and former members of the Haze Go club. Or he went to a bowling club instead of playing Go once a month with the customers from Heart of Stone. Or playing soccer with his old teammates some weekends. Surely someone in this room had life outside of the Go world!

Sadly, that was not the case. So, there he was, trying not to scream or pull his hair out or nod off to sleep or burst into singing some new popular song when suddenly he heard the name.

**sai.**

Hikaru snapped to attention in a flash. “What?” he asked, stopping the conversation in the room.

Waya shot him an annoyed look. “What do you mean with ‘what’? Don’t you listen at all? You were day dreaming again, weren’t you?”

“Sorry,” Hikaru said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “So, what are you guys talking about?”

“We’re talking about **sai** ,” Ogata answered, giving him the evil eye. It seemed he still kept a grudge about it even though he could never prove any connection between Hikaru and **sai**.

Hikaru thanked the Gods for the self-control he had learnt all these years as he held back his grimace at the meaningful look from Touya. At least, Touya-sensei pretended to be oblivious about the emphasis in his student’s tone. Hikaru could see he was curious, though. It had been ten years and no challenge came from the player he considered his rival. There were times in the past where Touya-sensei inquired about it to Hikaru in subtle ways but the pain that was still fresh in his eyes stopped him after a couple of times.

Even after ten years, Hikaru could still feel the pain. It was not as intense as it was ten years ago, but it was also not dull enough for Hikaru’s liking whenever he thought about Sai. The worst was when the anniversary of Sai’s disappearance came around. Hikaru always went off the grid for a couple of days to go to all the places he had ever been with Sai and to visit all the places with Shusaku’s memorials. Remembering and wondering…

“What about **sai**?” Hikaru asked with the fake smile he had perfected over the years.

“We just talked about how **sai** ’s still an inspiration and holds the respect of many players all over the world even though it’s been ten years since he was last seen,” Amano-san said. “He’s like the modern day Shuusaku.”

“Yeah, many people compare the two of them. Even the pros,” Waya said.

“Which happens to be nearly everyone in this room,” Hikaru pointed out.

“It’s a shame, though, that I never got the chance to play him,” Kurata said, “I’ve seen a lot of his kifu and he really is a great player. I wonder why **sai** never appeared again.”

“Yes. I wondered about that, too,” Ogata said again with another look to Hikaru which thankfully went unnoticed except for Hikaru and the Touyas. Hikaru refused to look at him at all.

“Speaking of kifu,” Ashiwara spoke for the first time since Hikaru joined back in the conversation, “There are not a lot of them, are there? Sai’s kifu, I mean.”

“There are only the ones who people managed to get from NetGo after they started to notice **sai**. Even then it was not until a while later that they began to save **sai** ’s kifu, so many of the previous games were lost. Not all of **sai** ’s opponents managed to remember all of the moves and they were either not thinking about **sai** that much at the time since **sai** was still unknown or were too busy being awestruck to even print screen them,” Waya said with regret, remembering how he was too busy to be offended and angry at the comment **sai** made that first time they played.

“The Go world still learns a lot from what they have,” Touya commented. Everyone nodded in agreement while Hikaru tried not to look too uncomfortable.

“Still, it would be nice to have more of **sai’s** games’ kifu,” Waya said, half whining. “I’ve seen **sai** ’s old kifu a million times already!”

“Why did **sai** disappear, though? Why doesn’t **sai** ever appear in the Go world anymore? Did something happen to **sai**? Did **sai** ever have any students? It would be a shame if the only legacy **sai** ever left for the Go world was whatever kifu people managed to save,” Isumi said gravely.

“Why did **sai** have to hide in the first place? The Go world would love to have **sai**. They want to know how strong **sai** is. Everyone already thinks **sai i** s equally strong or even stronger than Touya-sensei. No offense, sensei,” Ashiwara said. “How much stronger can **sai** be after ten years of disappearance? Where is **sai**?”

“Well, that’s the million yen question, isn’t it?”

“Whatever **sai** ’s reason, we will never know for the only one can answer that question is **sai** and whoever **sai** is, they’re not telling. So, why don’t we stop talking about the things we cannot change and talk about something more productive?” Touya-sensei said.

Everyone murmured in agreement, though Waya huffed a bit. Hikaru shot a grateful look at the ex-Meijin, earning a subtle nod from him.

**-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-**

The rest of the lunch was pretty much uneventful. But the discussion about **sai** left Hikaru with many thoughts. Kifu of Sai’s games. Sai’s student. Sai’s legacy. Sai. Sai. Sai. Sai…

So, here he was sitting like a lonely man in front of a goban in his grandpa’s attic. Drowning in memories of old times like some wrinkly old man like his grandpa. Hikaru shuddered at that last thought.

Okay, maybe not like a wrinkly old man. But he sure did look pathetic there.

He thought about what Isumi had said. It was not entirely true. Sai did leave many kifu and lessons for people to learn. There were so many of Sai’s kifu printed over and over again, generation after generation. Everyone learned his games and respected him. The thing was they were under Shuusaku’s name. Therefore, it was Shuusaku people learned from and it was Shuusaku people respected.

The ones with Sai’s name were very few compared to Shuusaku’s books. In fact, there was no book printed in Sai’s name since publishers were cautious about copyright and the likes. All there was for Sai’s proof of existence was a bunch of kifu people collected and a couple of discussions in magazine articles every now and then.

Sai deserved better than that. Hikaru knew this.

But…

Was he ready to share Sai with the world?

He didn’t want to.

Ever.

Sai was his. Only his.

But still…

“Why did you leave me?” Hikaru asked to the old goban in front of him.

Silence.

**-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-**

Hikaru didn’t know why he did it. He never wanted to share Sai with anyone. Even with his promise to Touya about telling him someday.

He still did it, though.

The first thing he did after he left his grandpa’s home was to buy dozens of kifu pads. After going back to his apartment, he pulled out a kifu pad and started to remember. As his hand was drawing and writing every stone and moves, he remembered all of the games Sai had ever played while they were together.

He was amazed with how sharp his memories of all of them were. Even when he still didn’t understand Go back then, he remembered them.

He started with that fateful game, the first game between Sai and Touya when they first met at Touya’s Go salon. Then the second game that broke Akira into tears after that. Shidou-Go between Hikaru and Sai when he first started to learn Go. Games in Net go. Games with the toad-like man from the antique store, a great game where they switched stones and Sai still beat the man mercilessly, even though he jumped and hid in fright whenever those toad smiles came out. Hikaru chuckled as he remembered that. It was like that with Gokiso, too. That game with Kadowaki-san before the pro exam.

More and more games.

Hikaru’s hand got crazier with each game he recorded. Most of the games were between him and Sai as he let Sai play less and less as time went by and in the end, he only played with Hikaru. He closed it with the game between Sai and Ogata at the hotel the night before Sai disappeared.

It wasn’t Sai’s last game. But the unfinished game between them after that was personal to Hikaru. Besides, there wasn’t much to share seeing as the game was unfinished.

By the time he was finished, no kifu pad was left. He was a bit confused when he saw that it was only three in the morning before he realized that he had lost track of time and more than 24 hours had passed.

He looked around his room and saw the kifu pads that were stacked at one side. It was a mountain. Did he really buy that many pads?

Hikaru looked at his trembling hand. Only then did he realize the pain in his hand from writing non-stop. There was a loud growl from his stomach, screaming to be fed. His head hurt from all of the remembering. There was a hollow feeling in his chest, but it also felt oddly lighter at the same time. His breathing was harsh. And his eyes burned.

So, Hikaru did the only sensible thing. He screamed and cried his eyes out before passing out from exhaustion an hour later.

**-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-**

Months later, the Go world went into uproar with recent news. Shindou-pro had published his own book for the first time. And not just any book, but a series of books with a new concept. They began with the very first games Shindou Hikaru had ever played until he became pro. They were filled with games between him and his teacher and were released on May fifth. There was also another series, The Legacy of Sai, filled with his teacher’s games with various opponents – who remained nameless, including most of his games on the net and several others that raised some confusion.

The Go world was shocked since it was a well-known fact that Shindou Hikaru didn’t have any official teacher. People believed he was a genius – a fact they only admitted after a couple of years into his career as pro – who taught himself how to play before he became an insei. He had ten years less experience than Touya Akira and yet managed to go toe to toe with his rival with only a couple of years experience of playing Go.

It had been ten years since Sai’s disappearance, but people still remembered his name and his games. He was still considered to be one of the best players that had ever existed, right up there with Shuusaku and other famous players, even though he never appeared officially. No one could accuse Shindou-pro of fraud either since it really was his or Sai’s playing style in the books. People also knew that Shindou-pro did have a bit of Sai’s style in his games since the beginning, but to know that he was not just another fan but really Sai’s student – and the only student from the look of it – was staggering news.

Both series were also dedicated to his teacher.

**_Beloved Sai. Hikaru._ **

Needless to say, the books were a best seller. In the Go world, of course. People were bombarding him with questions but so far he didn’t respond to any. He also rejected any request for interviews. In fact, he was seldom seen lately, only for his matches at the association.

His friends were shocked too since they didn’t know anything about his plan to publish a book, let alone something as sensational as this. None of them could answer any questions.

Touya and Waya were pissed since they were always the one who got pissed when Hikaru left them out of the loop. Ogata was the same, he had been seen haunting the association more often, waiting for the younger pro but somehow Hikaru always managed to avoid him. Hell, he managed to avoid everyone without making it too obvious actually.

On the day the books were released, Hikaru was not seen anywhere. He also didn’t answer his phone. Several inquiries later revealed that he wasn’t even in Tokyo. A couple of Hikaru’s close friends had known that every year on May fifth, Hikaru always took leave for a couple of days. His family said that he always went for a vacation to several places around this time, mostly to Hiroshima.

**-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-**

“Thank you, Grandpa, for giving this goban to me,” Hikaru said as he shifted his hold on the box he was carrying.

Shindou Heihachi just smiled at his only grandson. “It’s about time, actually. I’ve been pushing you to take it for years now. I take it that you finally can let go of whatever it is that was holding you back?” he asked.

“Naw~ I just finally feel ready to have this thing with me all the time,” Hikaru said with a serene smile.

“Well, that’s still progress, I guess,” Heihachi said.

“Yeah, me too,” Hikaru said, looking at the box fondly.

“So…the rumor about that board is true then?” Heihachi asked after a pause. “There’s really a spirit haunting that thing?”

Hikaru looked at his grandpa in surprise, before answering easily, “There was. He’s gone for ten years now.”

“I think it’s good he can finally rest in peace. You guys good friends?”

Hikaru didn’t answer. He got this faraway gaze as he looked at the box in his hands for a long moment. He looked up and smiled at his grandfather.

“Goodnight, Grandpa,” Hikaru said as he left with the box.

Heihachi blinked and watched as Hikaru left. The look in his grandson’s eyes… He knew that look. Suddenly, he understood what his grandson felt for the spirit, what the meaning of that spirit’s existence to him was and why he pinned after that board all this time. A pained look entered the old man’s eyes.

“Oh, Hikaru…you…”

 

**~Fin~**


	6. Her Wishes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akari has so many wishes in her life that would never come true. But in the end, it’s the most important one that do and that is more than enough.

There was one time when Fujisaki Akari could say that she was the closest person to Shindou Hikaru, that she was the one who knew him and understood him the most. They were childhood friends, they grew up together. It didn’t matter who teased them about their friendship, they were the best friends ever.

There was one time when it was the truth, an understatement of the century.

But not anymore.

Akari didn’t know when, but somewhere along the time they grew up, they had parted ways. It didn’t have anything to do with them being a girl and a boy. It didn’t even have anything to do with Akari’s unrequited love for her best friend. It just happened.

One day, Hikaru suddenly changed. The little jock suddenly turned into an old-man-game geek. The black and white soccer ball on the field suddenly turned into black and white stones on a wooden board. The carefree, happy-go-lucky boy turned into a determined and focused one. The honest boy suddenly turned secretive and mysterious.

Yes, it all started with that board game. Go.

Hikaru had never really been interested in the game. He even sneered and threw a fit whenever his grandpa tried to teach him the game. In his family, Hikaru’s grandpa was the only one who loved Go. His son hated the game and his grandson shared his feelings. Until Hikaru turned twelve and he suddenly took interest in the game. And in a very short time, he loved the game more than his grandpa, bordering on the obsessive side, and surpassed the old man’s skill so much that he became a pro and made a living from it.

Akari tried to keep their closeness, to save their friendship, by being a supportive friend. She tried to understand him. Even going as far as joining the Go club Hikaru formed with their senpai at junior high and learning to play.

With time, she began to see the appeal of the game and understood why Hikaru was so fascinated with it. But she still couldn’t understand his sudden change and new obsessive nature. No matter what she did, Hikaru ended up going further and further away from her.

When he decided to join the insei, her heart broke when she found out he had to quit the club. It became worse when Mitani left and Hikaru decided to never come back to the club, not even for a visit, because as long as he was there, Mitani would not come back and the club couldn’t afford that much loss. That meant she would have less time to spend with Hikaru and it was almost non-existent already as it was. Still, she supported him because she knew Hikaru was chasing his dream, whatever his dream was.

When everyone in the club went to the school festival together, with Akari successfully convincing Hikaru to come with them and Kaneko preventing Mitani from leaving, it was like the old times again. Sure, she and Hikaru ended up with a very frightening experience that night, but she secretly enjoyed it because it was the two of them against the world again. It would be their own special memory together.

Until she saw the photos from that night. While everyone was in hysterics, she was suddenly filled with a feeling of dread. The transparent figure that was with Hikaru in every single one of his pictures, most only have certain part visible like those arms that wrapped around him or the clothed legs that stood behind a crouching Hikaru.

They rarely took pictures before except for special occasions. That thought made Akari search out her yearbook from their primary school again. It was their graduation picture and sure there it was, the transparent sleeve barely visible on Hikaru’s side. The first time she saw it, she thought it was only a reflection of the light. But now, knowing about the other pictures, she began to think differently. She went through all of their pictures from when they were babies and discovered that it was only since sixth grade that the transparent figure appeared in the pictures.

Her mind ran wild. Before the festival, she would only think that all of those ghost stories were just that, stories. Now, it was different. She thought about all of the sudden changes in Hikaru that had happened since sixth grade, especially after his admittance to the hospital when he suddenly fainted without any reason in that storage room, scaring the crap out of everyone. The sudden fascination with Go, all of the secret activities, the weird behaviors and sometimes talking to himself, every unexpected decision, it began to make sense.

She did some research, took more pictures of Hikaru discreetly and got the same results, went to some temples to talk with the priests and show them the pictures. She was afraid for her friend. What if this ghost was dangerous? What if it was the one who changed Hikaru and turned him into a person he was not? What if it was a lonely ghost planning to take Hikaru away with it to the afterlife?

After so much research and proof, Akari tried to talk to Hikaru. But her friend just laughed at her and said that she took the experience from the festival too seriously. She was hurt with his dismissive attitude. They ended up fighting and didn’t talk to each other for weeks. What she didn’t know or realize though, was that after so much time apart, she didn’t notice one of the pictures missing and the serious look Hikaru shared with his ghostly companion at the picture.

Akari did notice that Hikaru seemed to avoid getting his pictures taken after that, though. But he was still ignoring her advice to go to a temple for help.

She still took some pictures of Hikaru whenever she had the chance, usually when he didn’t notice her or had let his guard down. The ghost was still there. After some time, she began to see that nothing bad had happened to her friend. He was as healthy as usual, as rude and loud as usual, still full of energy instead of looking like a walking zombie like the stories. She didn’t know whether to feel relief or not.

If she was being honest, there was a small part in her wishing that Hikaru would get rid of the ghost so her best friend, the Hikaru that she knew when they were little, would come back. That Hikaru would stop with his obsession with Go and become the person she always imagined he would become.

Then one day, her wish came true. It happened just as suddenly as his interest in Go. Hikaru said he was done with Go. But he looked so much in pain when he said it that Akari couldn’t feel happy about it. Hikaru began to withdraw from everyone. No one knew what happened. So, she took pictures again.

The figure that was always there, the one who appeared a little clearer than before with each picture taken, was nowhere to be seen. Not only that, every appearance in all of the previous pictures had also vanished. It had disappeared. Akari felt so relieved that Hikaru was not haunted anymore. She wouldn’t have to worry about it harming her friend anymore. She thought that this new brooding Hikaru was maybe some kind of a withdrawal phase after being haunted for so long. Like those people on drugs. She believed that with time, Hikaru would get better and be back to his old self again.

Much to her relief, he did.

He stopped brooding and his fighting spirit came back. Though, she didn’t know what to feel when he went back to Go with more vigor than before. For a while, she thought the ghost came back, but it was still nowhere to be seen. Hikaru was still alone. But he would be fine now, she hoped.

She didn’t realize that since the ghost’s disappearance, Hikaru had changed again.

It wasn’t until years later that she began to notice.

Puberty was something that always surprising. All of the little kids suddenly shoot up like a tower or fill in in all the right places. Things that disgusted or annoyed them before – girls are icky! Or, boys are so annoying! – are suddenly being seen in a new light and the interest of everyone. Their view of the world and personalities also changed. There were the prideful ones, the bully ones, the sweet ones, the popular ones, the shy ones and so on and on.

Akari had always been a cute little girl. Everyone had always said it. Akari noticed but was always modest about it. So it didn’t surprise anyone she grew up to be a beautiful girl and later, a beautiful woman. She got hit on and asked out on dates by many guys. But she always declined because she already had her sight on someone. None other than her childhood friend, Shindou Hikaru.

Hikaru had always been a cute boy, too. Sure, he was loud, rude and annoying but he was also cute. Even girls noticed that since primary school. So, Akari always knew that he would grow up handsome and attractive.

He did stay short among the boys for awhile. And then he hit his growth spurt. His sport activities – which didn’t stop even after he picked up Go, just lessened – also helped shaping his body with muscles.

In high school, Hikaru sometimes picked her up after school whenever they had plans with their friends from junior high. Mitani had finally let go of his grudge much to everyone’s relief so it was kind of nice to be able go out together with everyone, they did still exchange banter every now and then, though.

Anyway, whenever Hikaru came to pick her up, her friends from school always asked about him. Finding out that he didn’t attend high school – much to his parents’ dismay – strangely didn’t affect them much after finding out that he was a successful professional Go player. Okay, maybe they thought it was weird at first and some even looked down on him because of it. Akari, being the faithful friend she was, defended him and told them about Hikaru’s career. It was the amount of zeroes in Hikaru’s income that changed their minds, especially after Hikaru managed to buy his own cool and expensive motorbike. Akari resented them a bit for that but was also proud of Hikaru.

So, good looking and loaded, Hikaru was pretty popular.

Akari was sure that she would be jealous every time her friends hit on Hikaru if not for the fact that Hikaru always brushed them off politely while always paying more attention to her. This gave her hope that her feelings were requited.

So, Akari began to throw hints about her feelings. Some of their friends helped too, much to her embarrassment and gratitude. But, Hikaru was always the oblivious one. He would never notice things unless it hit him head on, quite hard. It was when she remembered that that she decided to confess to him.

Gathering her courage was not easy, but she thought it would be worth the nerves in the end. So, when they were seventeen, she waited for him in front of the association as a surprise visit and asked him out.

Her heart broke that night.

Later, when she finally calmed down and they began to talk again, Akari noticed that unlike other teenage boys that were driven by hormones, Hikaru rarely looked at girls. Sure, other young male Go players were also not as hormone-driven as normal teenagers, but they did take a look occasionally and dated.

But Hikaru was different.

At first, she thought he was just a late bloomer, like how his body went through its growth spurt later than other boys. But after overhearing some talks between her friends who called themselves fujoshi, she thought maybe she looked at it the wrong way. Maybe Hikaru was gay.

So, she observed him again. And found out that Hikaru didn’t look at boys either. It was like the thoughts didn’t even cross his mind. His only interest was in Go.

It was when Hikaru met his first love interest that she began to realize. Whenever he looked at the girl, Maria, she noticed he didn’t really look at her. His eyes were searching. That began Akari’s own searching on the girl. She looked at her, searching for something Hikaru might be searching for. Something about that girl did feel familiar, but whenever the thought occurred, it was gone as fast as it came before she could contemplate it.

She did know one thing, though. This thing with the girl was only a fling that wouldn’t last.

Surprisingly, one person agreed with her when others thought otherwise. Apparently, Touya Akira knew Hikaru a lot more than people thought. When the break up happened as predicted, Akari gave Touya a high-five. Discreetly, of course.

After that, Hikaru didn’t have any more love interests. Akari did notice he went out a lot, sometimes he even spent the night. That was when she learnt about his one-night-stands. She was horrified. She couldn’t believe that her childhood friend and first love could have casual relationships like that. He was not exactly a man-whore, much to Akari’s relief, but he never had any difficulty finding a partner for the night when he needed it, there were enough people lining up for him.

He rolled his eyes at her lecture and said that he just needed release and it was none of her business, which was true and she could admit that. But still, she worried for him and lectured him about the dangers of free sex and everything; she didn’t care how embarrassed she was, since she was still a virgin herself, because her friend’s safety was at stake. He just rolled his eyes again, saying that he already knew that and was always practicing safe sex only.

She was not satisfied with his response. She said to Hikaru that she wished for him to stop being a man-whore and begin to take responsibility for his life. As soon as she said that, Akari knew she had crossed the line. Hikaru was furious. Thinking about it now, Akari thought that she shouldn’t be so judgmental, but it was in the past now. They got into a big fight and, again, didn’t talk for weeks before they decided to set aside their problems and pretend it didn’t exist for everyone’s sake.

A year later, another love interest came into the picture. It was a boy named Rui this time, two years younger than them. It was shocking to everyone, including Akari even though she had suspected the same thing in the past.

She did notice Hikaru’s absence from one-night-stand activities when he was with this boy, though, so maybe it was a good thing. She didn’t say anything to Hikaru’s mother when she asked after learning about the relationship from the magazine. Turns out, Rui was quite a famous model. God, she had become as backwards as other Go players about the world even though she did not play professionally.

Apparently, all of the magazines said that Rui was a girl, based on the fact he was dating a boy. It was this news that stopped Akari from telling Hikaru’s mother about his son’s sexuality when she asked about his “girlfriend”, because people’s mindsets were not as open as it looked like in the manga. She didn’t want to cause any trouble for Hikaru. It was not her right to say anything before Hikaru was ready.

A talk to Touya helped her to prevent Hikaru’s close friends from the Go world, namely the loud mouth named Waya Yoshitaka, from spilling anything to anyone who didn’t know about the truth.

When Hikaru and Rui broke up, the casual sex began again much to Akari’s dismay. She noticed several things after this break up. First, he was as loyal a lover as he was as a friend since he didn’t sleep around when he was in a relationship. Second, Akari began to learn to divide between Hikaru’s lovers and Hikaru’s ‘playmates’. Third, she was more aware now that not all of said playmates were women.

She also realized from the way he handled things that something was not right with Hikaru. There was something off but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

Years went by and Hikaru had girlfriends or boyfriends once in a while. None of them lasted more than a month or two. All of them always ended because of commitment problems. Akari was sad to see how Hikaru didn’t seem interested in having a committed relationship. Hell, he seemed to shy away from it. But she was happy that his sleeping around habit died down more and more as they reached adulthood. He was more focused on Go nowadays and already held a couple of titles.

He was not the only one who changed, of course.

Akari found herself another best friend in, surprisingly, Touya Akira. They both knew Hikaru and often found themselves talking and commenting about their mutual friend. Akari loved to tell stories about their childhood together and Akira would always listen to every story, absorbing all the information. He would laugh good-naturedly at the appropriate times and clucked his tongue when heard about one of Hikaru’s shenanigans. They also tried to compare one event with another to see what happened after Hikaru met Akira.

That was when Akari learnt about Sai.

She learnt how Hikaru’s and Akira’s first encounter had been. About the genius he saw in Hikaru, about Sai’s appearances and disappearances in the internet, about the famous game between his father and Sai, about how Hikaru suddenly decided to quit Go before coming back, and about Akira’s suspicions about all of it.

Akari realized the timing matched with Hikaru’s sudden changes and interest in Go, she remembered Hikaru’s mysterious disappearances during the summer Sai appeared for the first time on the internet, she thought about the fight they had about the haunting and Akari’s worry for him, she was reminded of the brooding Hikaru around the time the ghostly figure disappeared.

And then a sudden epiphany came to her, the similarities that she always missed before and caused her to be unable to make the connections. About whom Hikaru based his lovers on. She remembered the way the ghost’s pictures got clearer in each photo before they disappeared suddenly, at the same time he disappeared from Hikaru’s side.

They were all like him. They all looked like him one way or another.

It was the ghost Hikaru had been looking for in his lovers. It was the reason for all of his break ups. Because he couldn’t find him in them.

Hikaru was not bisexual. He was in love.

Akari wanted to weep for her friend, for his pain and loss, for his misery and loneliness. She was also furious at the ghost for taking her friend away from her, changing him, only to leave him behind in the end. But she refrained herself. She didn’t tell anything to Akira, because he wouldn’t believe her. All of those photos she had taken years ago were useless now. And because Hikaru had promised him “someday”. It was Hikaru’s right to share the story.

But still, she wished he would tell someone about it. She wished he could let go of the past because at the rate he was going on now, Hikaru would end up alone in his life and she didn’t want that. But most of all, she wished he never met that ghost so her friend never had to deal with this kind of pain.

Back to her own life, Akari found that she and Akira really had many things in common. She didn’t know how she didn’t see it before but it was all written in his eyes whenever he looked at Hikaru and listened to her stories about him. Just like her, Akira loved Hikaru, as more than friends. But he knew he didn’t have a chance because he noticed the way Hikaru looked like sometimes when he was with his lovers or when he let his guard down. Hikaru looked like a mourning lover.

Akari had to applaud him for being so observant. Even she couldn’t make that connection as quick as he did, but then again, being observant was kind of a requirement for Go players, right? And Akira was a Go genius, so…

Anyway, before she realized it, their relationship had changed from just being friends to lovers.

When Akari suggested for Akira to confess his feelings to Hikaru despite their oncoming wedding, he was shocked. She told him she wanted him to confess so he wouldn’t regret anything and think of ‘what ifs’ in the future. Besides, they both knew well that Hikaru would reject him so this was merely closure for Akira himself and Akari already got her chance. In the end, he agreed, albeit reluctantly.

She also wanted to see Hikaru’s face when he confessed. It would be priceless. That had got Akira more willing to do it.

And, it was priceless. It was so worth it.

Akari and Akira couldn’t help but laugh every time they remembered that moment. They chose their wedding day for the time for Akira’s confession. Though, their amusement kind of strained when they heard Hikaru’s confession about losing his most precious person. It was an unexpected confession from Hikaru.

Sure, Akari had suspected. But like people always said, suspecting something and having it confirmed were two different things.

So, in the end, she could only watch her friend from the sidelines as he went through life, except for Go, like he was lost.

Oh, how much she wished he would let go, that he would move on. How much she wished he would find another person to love, to find happiness again. She missed that energetic, bright and unburdened little boy from a long time ago.

Akira took Akari and their three-year-old daughter to a trip around the country for their fifth year wedding anniversary. She was so excited and happy about it. They went to many interesting places in Japan, mostly places that had historical sites and stories or legends.

It was when they were visiting a very old temple that she heard about the legend of the place. There was a pond at the backyard of the temple. The trees surrounding the pond were old, maybe even ancient. The view was beautiful.

But it was the pond that attracted Akari’s attention. In the water at the bottom of the pond, there were many trinkets scattered around. Mostly coins, but there were also other things like rings, pretty hairpins, bracelets, ribbons, little treasure boxes – none were larger than the size of an adult’s palm - keys, and many others.

Legends said that if you throw something into the pond and make a wish, then your wish would come true. The more precious to you the things you throw into the pond, the higher the chance your wish would come true.

Akari thought about her life and felt that she didn’t have any wish at all since she already had everything she could dream of her life, a loving husband, a cute little daughter, friends…

That was when her thoughts went to Hikaru.

She thought about her oldest friend, her best friend and his lost love. Her hand went to her chest, where her heart always ached every time she thought of Hikaru. Her fingers brushed on her necklace. She looked down and remembered how precious that necklace was to her. It was the first diamond jewelry she had received. Hikaru bought it for her seventeenth birthday, a few months before he rejected her feelings. She remembered how happy she was at the time, how special Hikaru made her feel.

It was one of her precious memories. She always wore that necklace and when she didn’t, she kept it in a special place in her jewelry case. Not because she was still secretly in love with him, but because it was a symbol to her of her first love and their life-long friendship.

Akari smiled. She unclasped the necklace and looked at it fondly. If there was something important enough for her to throw one of her treasures away, this would be it. She clasped the necklace in her hands and closed her eyes, praying.

“I wish…I wish for Hikaru, my best friend and my brother, to find his way to happiness again,” Akari whispered softly.

And she threw the necklace into the pond. It plunged into the water, straight to the bottom with a soft splash. She turned around to find Akira holding their sleeping daughter in his arms, smiling softly at her. She smiled back.

Weeks later, a rumor was heard that Shindou Hikaru was caught – in front of many witnesses – in a tight embrace with a fifteen years old teenager that had just passed the pro-exam. His name was Fujiwara Sai.

 

**~Fin~**

 


	7. Paintings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hikaru finds another way to remember.

The first time he stepped into the office, it was because his mother and grandpa urged him to. They had noticed how depressed he had been lately and they were worried. Sure, he was getting better after he found a new reason and decided to go back to playing Go. But it wasn’t enough.

His family and friends began to notice how sometimes he lost interest in the middle of conversation or any activity he was doing at the time. But that never happened with his games. When he was playing Go, he was always fully alert.

They also noticed how he always looked behind him or to his side like he was looking for someone, like he was expecting someone to be there. He was always like that for years so people didn’t think much on it. The only reason they noticed was, unlike before, every time he did that, he always looked hurt or disappointed and then he would feel down or moody for the rest of the day.

There were also the little comments about death, whenever the topic or some news came up, that scared everyone around him. How he sounded so casual about it like it was not a big deal. He even sounded wishful about it sometimes, which worried everyone.

So, his family tried to talk to him about his depression from before because even though he felt okay now, clearly it would be better if he talked about it. He refused and glared at his mother and grandpa.

After his loss to Ko Yeong Ha at the Hokuto Cup, things took such a turn for the worst that even his oblivious friends took notice. They began to pester him about it. Even the senior Go pros – Shinoda, Kurata, Kuwabara, even Touya Kouyo – commented a couple of times. Not long after, the customers at Heart of Stone also began to get on his case.

He was really frustrated and angry about it.

He kept denying that he had problems. He refused to listen to anyone. He begun to withdraw and keep his distance from everyone. But, instead of making it easier, he felt lonelier than before.

One day, he accidentally cut himself. He didn’t remember what he was doing at the time and how he got hurt. All he could think about as he watched the blood flow freely down his arm was the pain. It was painful, that was obvious, but it was also numbing at the same time. It numbed the ache in his heart he didn’t even realize was there until he felt another more intense pain.

His mother found him kneeling on the kitchen floor, his hand pressing against his wound as hard as he could, letting the crimson blood pool around him. He had a look of expectation and pleasure in his eyes, his mother told him later. What he expected at the time, he didn’t tell her.

To say that his mother was shocked and then turned hysterical finding him like that was an understatement. He also realized for the first time, as his panicking mother’s face faded into darkness, that everyone was right. He had a problem.

He stayed in the hospital for a week, and was under suicide watch, much to his embarrassment. His mother and grandpa stayed with him in turns. His father even came home from his business trip during his stay in the hospital to visit him. He was never alone. His friends came to visit from time to time. When he was released from the hospital, his doctor had recommended a psychiatrist for him, saying he needed some help.

He was reluctant at first. But his mother and grandpa kept suggesting him to go. And after his mother broke down and crying in front of him, telling him how afraid she was when she found him and how terrifying the thought of losing him was to her, he decided to go.

The first few sessions didn’t do much. He still refused to talk about what was bothering him. He didn’t want to because he knew it would only make everything worse. They would admit him to the crazy house if he talked. So, usually he talked about other things. What he was doing lately, what he was thinking about it or about the people around him.

When his shrink realized he was more stubborn than she expected, she suggested another way to express himself about things he couldn’t talk about.

So, he took some art classes.

His first tries were disasters. He was never much of an artist. And he didn’t know what to draw. When his teacher told him it would have more meaning and be more powerful if he drew with his feelings, though, he tried again with more determination.

He drew everything he could think of. His family, his friends, the trees, the parks, the Go association, the sky, stray animals, random people… Everything. There was a bunch of paintings he never showed anyone except his art teacher, though, and that was only because he needed his advice. The paintings were ones that expressed his loneliness, his secrets. He kept them in the corner of his room, covered with a plain, white clothe. His mother respected him enough to not touch or look at them when he asked her.

Besides, she got his other paintings and drawings to hang on the walls around the house. She never forgot to tell him how proud she was of him, trying to encourage him so he would remember the good things in life. His grandpa was the same.

He felt grateful for their love for him. How they had never stopped trying to help him. He gave several paintings for his grandpa to hang in his house too. The old man hung the paintings proudly and would always boast to his friends whenever they met or came to visit.

Months passed by and he got better.

Everyone was relieved to see him behaving more like his old self again, though he was calmer now. More mature, they said.

Between his grandpa’s boasting, his friends’ visiting and his art teacher’s encouragement, people began to take notice of his artistic talent. His skill had a serious, major level up after a year. Everyone was encouraging him to become a real artist, to show off his art at galleries.

He was hesitant at first, but did it anyway.

Much to his surprise, he gained popularity pretty quickly. People liked his style and the way his paintings made them feel. He was really passionate, they said.

His shrink also came to his first gallery show. She praised him on his skill and told him she was proud of him but she also said something that made him upset. She knew about the other paintings he had hidden; the ones that were filled with things he couldn’t talk about. He had told her. And now she suggested for him to show those ones to the world too. Saying that maybe it was time for him to let go by sharing his special paintings.

He flat out rejected her idea.

But then she said that the reason he couldn’t talk about it was because he said no one ever knew and no one would ever believe. Maybe this way, he could tell people without having to talk about it, without having to be scared about it, without having to explain it and without being accused of anything. Sure, it would be painful at first, but it would be better for him in the long run. She asked him to at least think about it.

And think he did.

He pulled the cover of his hidden paintings and looked through all of them. Unlike his other paintings, which usually were full drawings of a scene or object, these ones only had glimpses of images, never a full picture of the object.

As he looked at them, he thought about his special someone. The most important person in his life. The one that had left him, though not by choice, that much he realized. He thought about what he would say if he could see him now. He thought about how angry he would be over his stupidity. He thought about how sad he would be over the impact his leaving had on him. He thought about how proud he would be for overcoming his grief and trying to stay strong, even if he was still lonely and mourning. He thought about all the time they spent together, about their fights, their laughs, their frustrations, their hopes and dreams, their sadness, and their happiness.

He sniffled as he remembered and realized he would never have it again. That little sniffle turned into sobs and before long, he wept for his loss for the second time. He remembered how he felt when he wept for the first time in that room full of kifu records. His heart was as broken now as that time.

That night, he dreamt. He dreamed of him. He always dreamed of him, but it was different this time. Instead of the image of him standing there, still like a statue like usual, they were in his room. He was in his usual attire of traditional white robe and tall black hat. He was as beautiful as ever. He smiled at him, saying something he couldn’t hear – much to his frustration – and looking at his paintings fondly. He kneeled in front of the paintings, caressing one and turned to face him with a brilliant smile on his face.

And he realized what he had to do when he saw that beautiful man. He remembered the thing that frustrated him the most during the time they were together. It was because he couldn’t show him to the world, to let the world see his beauty, how this special person chose him to stay with, how precious he was.

He smiled at him. Before he could wake up, he reached over, took the other’s face in his hands before pulling him closer for a soft kiss on the lips. The older man blinked in surprise. He smiled at him and got a teary smile in return before everything disappeared in a bright light.

His next show was the most amazing so far according to the press and collectors. This time, his paintings had different styles from before and had deeper meanings than his previous paintings. It was something they had never seen, especially with the Go theme and the modern day and historical mixes.

Indigo eyes looking out of the canvas with an intense gaze, traces of long black hair could be seen on one corner. Grid lines filled the entire space on a wooden background, speckles of blood splattered across them. A tall black hat on the corner of a sky scene, a plane flying across the blue and white background – people were confused and amused that he called it “Giant Bird”. The back of a child sitting in seiza in front of a goban, a transparent grey figure of an ancient being was covering him, as if melding into one with the child. A little hand was holding a black stone between its thumb and forefinger with another pale hand holding a fan as a pointer from dark background.

His friends from Go community were surprised. They felt there was something more to this series of paintings, but couldn’t exactly put their fingers on it. There were few people who had their own suspicions, though, but dismissed it as they deemed it crazy and impossible.

Black and white Go stones were flying across the canvas, in the background, a little arm was clenching a fist at one corner and another torso and hand clothed in white robes was leaning away from the smaller figure. Long black hair was swept away, showing the lower face of someone in white Kariginu and a ruby stone earring on a delicate ear. Pale arms wrapped around small shoulders in a tight embrace, long black-purple hair and short black with traces of blonde could be seen.

Hikaru smiled at all the questions and speculations that were thrown around and his way. He didn’t answer any of them, didn’t correct any of them. He just looked at all the paintings with a sad yet fond look in his eyes as he bared his heart to the world.

Two hands – again one in wide, white sleeves and another one in a jacket – were holding each other in the background of a modern day street filled with traffic. Two pairs of legs in jeans and wide pants were running across Shibuya. Standing back to back, was the blur image of a child and a man in costumes from different times. The corner of a bloody goban shined beautifully in the darkness, a blurred image of a dusty shed on the background.

He saw his grandpa and saw understanding dawn on his wrinkled face as he recognized his own shed in one of the paintings. The old man turned to look at him in surprised from across the gallery. Hikaru just smiled at him.

A swing of a wickedly sharp sword on a background filled with flying black and white stones. A specter of a transparent figure walked down an endless, shining path. A pale hand in white sleeves handing a yellow paper fan to another smaller hand.

An image of wisteria flowers covering a figure standing under the tree with only the corner of white sleeve, wide pants, the end of long black-purple hair and a hand holding a familiar fan could be seen. Slender, soft hands swept through the bi-colored hair of a child lovingly. A tan hand holding strands of black-purple hair and pulling them into a kiss. The lower faces of a teenager and a man were leaning toward each other with loving smiles, noses touching in an Eskimo kiss.

His mother was shocked to see that section. At first, there was anger in her eyes; probably thinking that a man had took advantage of her boy, but then she saw the love radiating from the paintings and a pained look entered her eyes as she looked at the next section of paintings and realized what got her boy so depressed more than a year ago.

White robes and long black hair floating in the dark water, a clear picture of death that sent a chill down everyone’s spines. A tan hand reaching out to hold a pale one only to have it go through and fail. A tear stained page of an old record of a game. Red ribbons tore apart in shreds in the middle.

At the end of the day, people went home with mixed feelings. Happiness, nostalgia, hope, loss, sorrow, depression but most of all, love. They liked his art before, were impressed and they marveled at them, but this last show had them fall in love all over again.

He was aware – as he stood before a full body painting of the object of his show with the upper part of his face covered by his ever present fan – that his family and a bunch of his close friends were watching him from nearby, not sure how to approach him. He didn’t care, though. All of his attention was on the painting.

He had endured the day successfully. He was surprised that by the end of it, he felt less burdened. He felt lighter. If only he was here to see, he thought as he let out a wistful smile.

He perked up as he felt a ghostly touch on his hand. He automatically grabbed it out of habit.

“Do you like it?” he asked, earning confused looks from the others but, again, he didn’t care.

_I love it… I love you, Hikaru…_

He looked to his side to see the ghostly image of his most important person smiling lovingly at him while fading away slowly. A lone tear slid down his face as he was once again standing alone.

“And I you, Sai…”

 

**~Fin~**

 


End file.
